Last month, the Greeley Tribune reported that Jared Polis – the five-term Colorado congressman from Boulder and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful who also happens to be a multimillionaire – had chipped in $1,500 to the campaigns of three left-leaning Greeley City Council candidates. It amounted to $500 each.

While that doesn’t even rate as walking-around money for a guy worth an estimated $400 million – and isn’t likely to have much of an impact on the council candidates’ respective campaigns, either – the contributions did serve to raise questions about whether Polis was trying to use his wealth and influence to shape elections. In races besides his own, that is.

Some asked why Polis was meddling in the local politics of a community that’s not his and that isn’t even in his 2nd Congressional District.

Of course, in election politics, what goes around comes around often enough. And this week, a report by the Tribune gave Polis an opening to take a poke at his critics over the same council races:

A Denver-based independent expenditure committee that has spent more than any other entity on the Greeley City Council campaign has yet to file its donor report, contradicting the Greeley City Clerk’s guidance on reporting deadlines.

The committee, Greeley for a Stronger Economy, has spent nearly $65,000 on television ads, mailers and other advertising, including the most recent mailers portraying three city council candidates as puppets of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., who donated money to three council candidates.

So, now, who’s the puppeteer, eh? Polis didn’t miss his chance to fire back:

…after several attack-style ads portraying him as a puppet master in Greeley politics, Polis on Tuesday was eager to weigh in. In a prepared statement, Polis said he was proud to donate to candidates he said will help build a strong economy for Greeley families.

“The question we’d all like answered is: Why are anonymous special interests from Denver spending more than $50,000 for their candidates, and what do they expect from Greeley in return?” Polis’ statement read, in part.