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A former Colorado clerk convicted of attempting to breach voting systems in hopes of proving President Donald Trump’s claims of election malfeasance in 2020 will receive a pardon.
Trump announced his pardon for Tina Peters on Truth Social, saying she has been sitting in prison for the “crime” of demanding honest elections.
“Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair and honest,” he wrote. “Today I am granting Tina a full pardon for her attempts to expose voter fraud in the rigged 2020 presidential election!”
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The president doesn’t have the power to pardon someone for state crimes.
“We’re not surprised by President Trump shouting into the wind and issuing a meaningless pardon for his friend and fellow election denier Tina Peters,” Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib told Fox News Digital. “The President has no legal authority to demand her release.
Murib noted that Peters was convicted by a Colorado jury, not a federal court.
“She was convicted by a jury of her peers on state charges and she should remain in state custody,” Murib said. “For a president who obviously doesn’t respect the rule of law, this is not surprising. Nobody is above the law, not even the president’s friends.”
Brita Horn, chairman of the Republican Party of Colorado, urged the state to follow Trump’s lead.
“We trust the President has done his due diligence in this matter in the name of justice,” Horn told Fox News Digital. “We call upon Colorado to follow the direction of President Trump and this pardon.”
Earlier this week, a federal judge refused to release Peters, 70, from prison.
She has been serving a nine-year sentence after a state jury convicted her of participating in a scheme to breach the Mesa County voting systems. She filed a lawsuit seeking her release earlier this year, arguing that her free speech rights had been violated, but Judge Scott Varholak rejected the motion Monday.
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“Ms. Peters raises important constitutional questions concerning whether the trial court improperly punished her more severely because of her protected First Amendment speech,” Varholak wrote. “But because this question remains pending before Colorado courts, this Court must abstain from answering that question until after the Colorado courts have decided the issue.”
Peter Ticktin, Peters’ attorney, said he was formally notified of the pardon Thursday.
“Tina Peters deserves justice,” he wrote on X. “I have formally notified President Trump urging a presidential pardon and outlining why Tina is a necessary witness in exposing election misconduct. What happened to her was a travesty, and it’s time to set it right.”
In a Dec. 7 letter to Trump, Ticktin said Peters’ trial was a “travesty” where she was not permitted to raise her defense.
Trump said Peters was languishing in prison despite Democrats pushing soft-on-crime policies that allowed criminals to walk free, saying they had been “relentless” in targeting her.
“For years, Democrats ignored violent and vicious crime of all shapes, sizes, colors, and types. Violent criminals who should have been locked up were allowed to attack again,” he wrote. “Democrats were also far too happy to let in the worst from the worst countries so they could rip off American taxpayers. Democrats only think there is one crime – not voting for them!
“Instead of protecting Americans and their tax dollars, Democrats chose instead to prosecute anyone they can find who wanted safe and secure elections.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis previously vowed not to pardon Peters as part of any deal with Trump, saying she needed to be held accountable.
“Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers, prosecuted by a Republican District Attorney, and found guilty of violating Colorado state laws, including criminal impersonation,” Polis wrote on X. “No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions. This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold later released a statement, saying:
“Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes in a state Court. Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her. His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states’ rights and the American constitution.”
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