Tina Peters, the former Colorado elections clerk convicted for her role in a scheme to promote election conspiracy theories pushed by Donald Trump, was released from prison on Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado's Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.
Release Confirmed
Peters' release was confirmed by the Colorado Department of Corrections. The state agency said it would have no further information about the 70-year-old former clerk.
Her sentence was shortened by Governor Jared Polis in May after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state. Peters served less than a quarter of her nine-year sentence.
Background of the Case
Peters was the first local election official to be charged with breaching security after the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. She allowed an outside computer expert affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell—who denied Trump's loss—to copy the county's Dominion Voting Systems computer server during an update in 2021.
Peters later appeared with Lindell at a "cybersymposium" that promised to reveal proof of a rigged election. Video and photos of the computer system upgrade, including passwords, were posted online, fueling false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Trump.
In 2024, a jury in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold, convicted Peters of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty, and other crimes. An appeals court upheld her conviction in April but ordered resentencing, arguing the original judge wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.
Political Pressure
Trump championed Peters' case but lacked pardon power since she was convicted under state law. Instead, he pressured Polis, lambasting him on social media and disinviting him from a White House meeting with governors. The Trump administration also announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocate the US Space Command to Alabama.
Polis commuted Peters' sentence on May 15, writing in a letter that while she committed serious crimes and deserved prison time, the nine-year term was "extremely unusual and lengthy" for a first-time, non-violent offender.
Reactions
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, called the commutation a "dark day for democracy" and accused Polis of "selling out our state's justice system for Trump."
