Last week, Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams was caught fundraising off former President Donald Trump’s recent conviction of 34 felony counts in New York City — explicitly defying a Trump campaign directive.

Williams did so twice over — once for the state party and again for his own campaign for this month’s 5th Congressional District primary.

“This entire process, from start to verdict, has been rigged and a disgraceful political maneuver by desperate Democrats who know crooked Joe Biden is losing the 2024 election,” Williams wrote in an official party email and on social media.

The problem? He embedded a donation link solely for the party, with a red button urging contributors to “Support Trump & COGOP.”

Similarly, his congressional campaign sent out fundraising requests with a red button asking supporters to “STAND WITH TRUMP & DAVE.” No proceeds were earmarked for Trump.

“Any Republican elected official, candidate or party committee siphoning money from President Trump’s donors are no better than Judge Merchan’s daughter,” Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita sharply warned. “We’re keeping a list, we’ll be checking it twice and we aren’t in the spirit of Christmas.”

Put Dave Williams and the Colorado GOP atop that list.

Some Republican campaigns have split proceeds with Trump’s campaign or directed donations to support Trump. Not so for Williams ’campaign or the Colorado GOP.

“Trump advisers have repeatedly warned down-ballot Republicans from fundraising off the ex-president without their consent,” Politico reported. LaCivita’s comments make it clear Williams didn’t have that consent.

Let’s be real: Williams needs Trump far more than Trump needs him. So, why should he get to blithely flout Trump’s campaign by “siphoning money” from the president’s verdict?

If Trump’s campaign is serious, they’ll withdraw his Williams endorsement and enforce the same campaign restrictions placed on other Trump-endorsed candidates.

This doesn’t mean Trump must endorse Williams ’opponent, Jeff Crank — although Crank supports Trump. In the rock-ribbed Republican 5th district, Trump loses nothing by pulling support from a primary candidate who’s already put himself above the causes he espouses.

“President Trump being found guilty in a political witch hunt in New York City is an affront to our justice system and our American way of life,” Crank tweeted Thursday. “Unfortunately, the Left’s abuse of our justice system was successful today. President Trump will have the last laugh in November.”

Williams has previously garnered intense criticism for running for Congress while clinging to party leadership — abusing GOP resources through party-sponsored emails and campaign mailers to attack his primary opponent.

He’s violated state party bylaws and tradition by officially endorsing primary candidates that meet select, narrow criteria — criteria that would disqualify Trump himself!

This isn’t the first time Williams disregarded Trump campaign restrictions, either. In 2020, Trump’s Colorado campaign cut ties with Williams for invoking his role as a “Colorado Surrogate for President Trump” while personally endorsing in a legislative primary.

Williams ’latest defiance isn’t just another page in his self-serving playbook; it’s a glaring display of disloyalty and questionable motives — all under the guise of the loyal defender of President Trump. Republican voters are right to ask, if he’ll betray Trump’s trust, might Dave Williams betray theirs?

Still, no matter where you stand on Trump, this trial was unquestionably stacked against him from the start. Trump can justifiably call the process “rigged” for a change.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg ran on a pledge to prosecute Trump. Judge Juan Merchan made a symbolic donation of $35 to a pro-Biden, anti-Trump organization — earmarked for “resisting the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.”

“Would folks have been just fine with the judge staying on the case if he had donated a couple bucks to ‘Re-elect Donald Trump, MAGA forever!’?” CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal and New York state prosecutor, wrote in New York Magazine. “Absolutely not.”

The verdict “contort(s) the law in an unprecedented manner,” Honig adds. “The charges against Trump are obscure, and nearly entirely unprecedented. In fact, no state prosecutor — in New York, or Wyoming, or anywhere — has ever charged federal election laws as a direct or predicate state crime, against anyone, for anything. None. Ever.”

Andrew McCarthy, another ex-federal prosecutor, panned Bragg’s attempt to transform Trump’s misdemeanors into felonies by attaching an additional crime to each charge.

“New York’s constitution forbids such vague incorporation by reference; to be valid the statute would have to prescribe what other crimes trigger the felony enhancement,” McCarthy wrote in The National Review.

Yet even Trump didn’t know which felony he was accused of until the jury instructions arrived. They didn’t specify the underlying crime, either — instead giving the jury three options. What kind of “justice” is that?

“(T)he charges against Trump aren’t just unusual,” Honig writes. “They’re bespoke, seemingly crafted individually for the former president and nobody else.”

Ultimately, two simultaneous truths emerge: Trump was dealt an historically bad hand in a rigged game, and Williams shamelessly defied Trump’s campaign to capitalize on #45’s conviction for his own gain.

Will President Trump and his campaign hold Williams accountable for his blatant opportunism — or will they let it slide, allowing him to continue using Trump’s name and likeness as his personal piggy bank?

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.