Colorado’s Democratic governor is openly considering freeing a convicted election criminal who helped spread Trump’s Big Lie—and the state’s top election official is sounding the alarm.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold, along with two Republican county clerk leaders, sent a letter to Gov. Jared Polis this week urging him not to pardon or commute the sentence of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk serving nine years for her role in a 2021 voting system breach.
WHAT’S GOING ON: Peters isn’t just any election denier. In 2021, she let unauthorized individuals access sensitive voting-machine software, helped copy and spread confidential election data, and lied to investigators about it.
That data ended up in QAnon conspiracy circles, fueling the “stolen election” lie. A jury in her own conservative county convicted her on multiple felonies.
“Tina Peters granted unauthorized access to equipment and placed the security of Mesa County’s elections, and all of our elections, at risk,” Griswold wote. “Her actions have been used to spread countless conspiracies and incite countless threats against election officials here in Colorado and across the country.”
THE DETAILS: According to Democracy Docket, Trump has been waging an intense pressure campaign to free Peters, including issuing a legally meaningless “pardon” in December. (She was convicted on state charges—the federal government has zero authority here.) He’s also punished Colorado by vetoing bills and withholding federal funding.
And it seems to be working. Polis, who previously said he wouldn’t cave to Trump, recently signaled he’s reconsidering.
“She got a sentence that was harsh. It was a 9 year sentence,” Polis said last week, floating the idea that elderly prisoners deserve leniency. “How much of a threat to society are they?”
BUT BUT BUT: The sentencing judge made clear this wasn’t some harmless old lady.
“You are no hero, you abused your position and you’re a charlatan who used, and is still using, your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again,” Judge Matthew Barrett said at her sentencing.
Meanwhile, far-right figures have called for “battle” if Peters isn’t released, with some suggesting the military should free her. Her lawyers argued in appeals court Wednesday that Trump can pardon state crimes if the defendant was carrying out “federal duties”—a wild legal theory that would blow up state sovereignty.
WHY IT MATTERS: Griswold warned that pardoning Peters would embolden the exact people threatening election workers and democracy itself.
“We are continuing to see a very intense threat atmosphere for elections,” she said. “Anything that shows that people who would threaten election officials or our election infrastructure make it off without any type of accountability, it just emboldens the people who would want to attack our elections and our democracy.”
Peters is one of the only people in the entire country actually facing consequences for attacking American elections. If a Democratic governor lets her walk because a vindictive president threw a tantrum, the message is clear: there are no guardrails left.
“Allowing a vengeful president to succeed in his vengeance encourages more vengeance,” Griswold said. “We need to stay firm, uphold our laws and uphold our democracy.”