President Donald Trump announced Thursday his intention to issue a federal pardon for an individual convicted in connection with efforts related to challenging the 2020 election results. However, on this occasion, the person in question will remain behind bars.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said he was pardoning Tina Peters, a former Mesa County election clerk currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for facilitating a data breach involving voting system data in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
“Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure our Elections were Fair and Honest,” Trump wrote Thursday. “Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections. Today, I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”
Peters’ leaks revealed no evidence of voter fraud, and the incident is widely viewed as one of the most serious breaches of election system security in modern history.
But more importantly, Trump’s pardon powers only extend to federal crimes and would not apply to Peters, who was tried and convicted by the state of Colorado. That means Peters’ sentence will remain valid and in full effect even if a federal pardon is issued.
State officials do have the power to release Peters, but have been adamant that she was lawfully and rightfully convicted by a jury of her peers and remains unrepentant for her crimes.
While the actual language of Peters’ pardon has yet to be released, the Trump White House has seemingly acknowledged in the past that the president has no legal authority to free Peters for state-level crimes.
In May, Trump unsuccessfully called for Colorado officials to release Peters from prison and directed his Department of Justice to “take all necessary steps” to assist in the matter while referring to her as a “political prisoner.” These initial messages did not mention or threaten a pardon, and strongly implied that the decision was legally up to Colorado state officials.
At the time, Colorado Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser, who Trump called “radical left,” told CyberScoop that Peters’ sentence was a reflection of the severity of her crimes and that federal efforts to overturn it would not deter them. He reiterated that stance in an interview when asked if Colorado would turn Peters over to federal authorities while any potential court challenges play out.
“No, there’s no legal authority for any federal government action to take a prisoner who is in state custody, lawfully having been tried, convicted and sentenced,” Weiser told Denver, Colorado’s 9News. “This is an important principle of our Constitution, and everyone who says they care about the rule of law, about public safety and our constitution needs to care about this issue.”
That position was backed up by Democratic Governor Jared Polis, the only U.S. official with the legal power to pardon Peters for her crimes.
“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 BlueSky. “No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions.”
While Trump has been unable to free Peters, he has used his presidential powers to wipe away criminal convictions for thousands of individuals who assisted him in his quest to overturn the 2020 election, including a mass pardon of more than 1,500 Americans who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.
A slate of pardons issued by Trump in November included two attorneys – Kenneth Chesbro and Jim Troupis – who were part of an attempted scheme to create an alternate slate of Republican electors who would falsely submit to Congress that Trump was the true winner of Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential contest. Trump also pardoned a number of other Wisconsin Republican officials who had offered themselves up as fake electors.
At Peters’ sentencing last year, one month before Trump would be elected to a second term, neighbors and public officials alike testified about the harm her actions caused to them and the broader Mesa community.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Matthew Barrett called Peters a “charlatan” who had expressed no remorse for her actions or their damage.
“I’m convinced you’d do it all over again,” Barrett said.