Updated at 7:17 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2025
City, county and economic leaders from Colorado Springs and El Paso County are siding with the president in pending litigation over the relocation of Space Command.
Colorado's Attorney General Phil Weiser sued the Trump administration in October, saying the political motivations for the move made it unconstitutional.
Late last year, the Colorado Springs City Council formally opposed the lawsuit. The El Paso County Board of Commissioners followed suit.
At a press conference on Wednesday, local leaders, including council president Lynette Crow-Iverson, commission president Carrie Geitner and president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, said they tried to stop the relocation and fought hard for Space Command to stay in Colorado Springs. However, they said the AG is acting in an adversarial way. Think the old proverb, "You get more flies with honey than with vinegar."
“(We) are putting partnership over partisanship and lawsuits. We would invite our Attorney General to do the same,” said Kleymeyer.
The Chamber & EDC announced plans to file an amicus brief, or a friend of the court filing, opposing the AG’s lawsuit.
Crow-Iverson said she fully supports keeping Space Command here, but now that the decision has been made to move it, she wants the city to move on.
“Suing the president is politicizing the situation,” Crow-Iverson said. “It's not productive. It's not the path forward.”
Still, Crow-Iveson acknowledged the political genesis of the move.
“From our point of view, two wrongs don't make a right. And so yes, the president might do his thing and say his memes and whatnot, but that doesn't lessen the fact that the AG did not need to go that far,” Crow-Iverson said. “He (Weiser) has sued him (Trump) 50 times. That is not helping the state of Colorado.”
AG Weiser and his office declined to answer questions on the filing of the amicus brief. The office did, however, provide a statement in which Weiser reiterated that the president's actions were unlawful.
“Some elected officials may choose to accommodate the Trump administration and its illegal intimidation efforts against states with which it disagrees — that is their choice,” Weiser said. “But when Colorado is attacked and our sovereignty is threatened, it is my duty to protect our state and defend our rights.”
Kleymeyer said, despite the amicus brief, the chamber isn't on anyone’s side.
“We're trying to be the adult in the room to say, you know what? Let's stop fighting,” Kleymeyer said. “Let's look forward to national security and protection of U.S. interests and stop the political theater.”
When asked if Colorado Springs fits the metaphor of a child in the middle of a bad divorce, she said, “Yes.”
“Who usually loses in those fights? — The kid,” Kleymeyer said.
Editor's note: This article was updated to reflect the correct spelling of Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
