Tina Peters, the former Mesa County elections clerk convicted of breaching voting systems, was released from prison Monday after Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted her sentence in May. Peters had been serving a nine-year prison term imposed in October 2024 after she was convicted of allowing an unauthorized person affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell access to her county's election software. She served less than a quarter of that sentence.
Polis granted the commutation after President Trump waged a pressure campaign against the Democratic governor, including social media attacks, disinviting him from a White House meeting with other governors, and having his administration announce plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocate U.S. Space Command to Alabama. In his commutation letter, Polis wrote that although Peters' crimes were serious and warranted prison time, the sentence was "extremely unusual and lengthy" for a first-time, non-violent offender.
Peters was the first local election official charged with breaching election security after the 2020 presidential race. She allowed the outside computer expert to copy her county's Dominion Voting Systems server during a 2021 update.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, also a Democrat, called the commutation "an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country." She warned that the decision "sends a dangerous message about accountability for those who would attack elections" and will "embolden the election denial movement."
Matt Crane, head of the Colorado County Clerks Association, stated: "We are furious, disgusted, and deeply disappointed."
Hours after her release, Peters appeared on Steve Bannon's podcast "War Room" and repeated unsubstantiated claims about election fraud. She claimed to see "elections taking place in real time" in Virginia, California, Texas, and Maine where "the Democrats are going to cheat," and stated she had spent time in prison "as retribution for exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped."
Peters called her release "a miracle" and said she had written letters to Trump thanking him for his assistance. Her immediate return to spreading election claims drew sharp criticism from Democratic candidates seeking to succeed Polis as governor. State Senator Michael Bennet said of Peters' interview: "That's not what remorse looks like." He added she was "already spreading the same false claims about Colorado elections that led her to commit four felonies in the first place — all in service of Trump's Big Lie."
Tina Peters, the former Mesa County elections clerk convicted of breaching voting systems, was released from prison Monday after Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted her sentence in May. Peters had been serving a nine-year prison term imposed in October 2024 after she was convicted of allowing an unauthorized person affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell access to her county's election software. She served less than a quarter of that sentence.
Polis granted the commutation after President Trump waged a pressure campaign against the Democratic governor, including social media attacks, disinviting him from a White House meeting with other governors, and having his administration announce plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocate U.S. Space Command to Alabama. In his commutation letter, Polis wrote that although Peters' crimes were serious and warranted prison time, the sentence was "extremely unusual and lengthy" for a first-time, non-violent offender.
Peters was the first local election official charged with breaching election security after the 2020 presidential race. She allowed the outside computer expert to copy her county's Dominion Voting Systems server during a 2021 update, and the copied materials, including passwords, were later posted online and used to fuel false claims about voting machine manipulation.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, also a Democrat, called the commutation "an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country." She warned that the decision "sends a dangerous message about accountability for those who would attack elections" and will "embolden the election denial movement."
Matt Crane, head of the Colorado County Clerks Association, stated: "We are furious, disgusted, and deeply disappointed." Election officials across Colorado have pushed back for years against Peters' claims about the 2020 election, with no proof of election interference found in the state.
Hours after her release, Peters appeared on Steve Bannon's podcast "War Room" and repeated unsubstantiated claims about election fraud. She claimed to see "elections taking place in real time" in Virginia, California, Texas, and Maine where "the Democrats are going to cheat," and stated she had spent time in prison "as retribution for exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped."
Peters called her release "a miracle" and said she had written letters to Trump thanking him for his assistance. Her immediate return to spreading election falsehoods drew sharp criticism from Democratic candidates seeking to succeed Polis as governor. State Senator Michael Bennet said Peters' remarks "is not what remorse looks like" and noted she was "already spreading the same false claims about Colorado elections that led her to commit four felonies in the first place."
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