(Reuters) – An accused Republican County Clerk in Colorado of leading an unauthorized violation of voter data and supporting former President Donald Trump’s false election claims was ordered by a judge Wednesday to turn over copied data.

Dallas Schroeder, Elbert County Clerk made last year copies of county voting systems and stated in legal filings that it was his “statutory duty” preserve the records for the 2020 election.

It is the eighth attempt to gain unauthorized access to five U.S. voting systems since the 2020 election. All involved local Republican officeholders or party activists advancing Trump’s falsehoods or conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, according to a Reuters examination of the incidents https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-breaches published last week.

Schroeder stated in legal filings that he received help from Shawn Smith (a former Air Force Colonel and election fraud activist) who led groups looking for evidence to show Trump lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Smith has not responded to inquiries for comment.

Schroeder claimed that the hard drives containing the data weren’t a voting system component and that he had the authority to create copies according to judge’s orders. Gary Kramer, Elbert County District Judge rejected these arguments and directed him to turn the hard drives over to Jena Griswold, Colorado Secretary of State. This was due Wednesday afternoon.

Kramer stated in his last Friday’s order that “if more than two copies are available, Schroeder shall supply all copies to Griswold.”

Kramer directed Schroeder also to detail the chain of custody for hard drives. However, he said that the information would only be accessible to court officials and the parties and will not be made public.

Schroeder and John Case, his lawyer, did not respond to Tuesday’s questions about whether Schroeder would follow the orders. Schroeder previously stated that he had one set of copies.

Griswold praised Judge’s decision and said it would ensure that election law was followed.

“Clerk Schroeder was not fully compliant with Election Orders received from my office, creating a risk that Elbert County voter system hard drives could had been used to undermine trust in Colorado’s secure electoral elections,” Griswold explained in a release.