Colorado Attorney General Sues President Over Retaliation After Tina Peters' Sentence

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed a lawsuit against the President of the United States, alleging a campaign of retaliation against the state following the conviction and sentencing of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters. Peters, a prominent figure among election skeptics, was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for using her official position to promote false claims that rigged voting machines cost Donald Trump the 2020 election.

According to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Peters permitted an unauthorized individual to pose as a county employee, granting him access to secure voting equipment and proprietary software. Peters allegedly deactivated video surveillance cameras and shared digital images of the equipment at a conference dedicated to election fraud allegations. Following a two-week trial in 2024, a jury found her guilty of three misdemeanors and four felonies.

District Court Judge Matthew Barrett strongly condemned Peters during her sentencing, calling her a charlatan who abused her position and noting that she showed no remorse. Despite the state conviction and state-level prosecution by a Republican district attorney, the White House fiercely defended Peters, with the President labeling her a patriot and a political hostage being held by Democrats.

Attorney General Weiser stated that the White House initiated punitive measures against Colorado because officials refused to release Peters. The state faced withheld federal wildfire disaster relief, canceled transportation funding, threats to food aid, and attempts to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. White House officials maintained that these actions were independent agency decisions unrelated to Peters, and federal funding, including water project money and wildfire relief, has since been restored to Colorado.

Although the President issued a pardon for Peters, it carried no legal effect because her convictions were based on state rather than federal laws. However, Colorado Governor Jared Polis ultimately commuted her sentence in May after she had served less than two years behind bars. Polis defended his decision by describing Peters as a nonviolent, elderly, first-time offender who received an excessively harsh sentence.

The commutation drew sharp criticism from local officials, including Colorado County Clerks Association Director Matt Crane, who labeled the decision a betrayal of the election community and accused the governor of bending to political pressure. Critics also questioned the timing of the commutation, which interrupted ongoing state court proceedings to reconsider the sentence.

Since her release from prison, Peters has returned to the public circuit, appearing at events and maintaining her stance on voting machines despite extensive state, federal, and local investigations that found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, state election officials warn that the ongoing controversy and political rhetoric have severely damaged public trust in election workers, turning them into frequent targets of intimidation and threats.