In a Thursday morning social media post, President Donald Trump once again demanded Colorado release incarcerated former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters “RIGHT NOW.”
Trump called Peters a “brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians, including the big Mail-In Ballot supporting the governor of the State.”
Last August, Peters was found guilty by a jury of her peers of four felonies, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. She was also convicted of misdemeanors, including misconduct and violation of duty.
She was sentenced to nine years in jail and state prison and has been in the process of appealing her sentence, including asking a federal court to order her released on bond while the appeal progresses.
Peters helped a man gain unauthorized access to voting equipment. The county’s voting machines’ passwords and copies of its hard drives were subsequently posted online by people seeking to undermine faith in the state’s election system.
Trump wrote Peters “did nothing wrong, except catching the Democrats cheat (sic) in the Election. She is an old woman, and very sick. If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!”
Peters did not show any evidence of tampering or cheating in Colorado’s election system during her trial or in the months before it. The local District Attorney investigated a claim that the hard drives showed evidence of vote tampering and concluded that the anomalies were instead created by a staff member trying to troubleshoot a computer issue.
Peters was tried on state charges, and Trump has no ability to pardon her, like he did with Jan. 6 defendants. But Trump could try to pressure the state by other means, including withholding federal funding, as he’s done with universities.
Trump has tried to help Peters before. In May, he directed his Department of Justice via social media to “take all necessary action to help secure the release of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters.” Even before that post, the Justice Department filed motions supporting her federal habeas request.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Trump’s latest post was based on conspiracy theories. “Trump’s feeble attempts to put pressure on the justice system to rewrite history is an embarrassment. While he keeps digging himself lower and lower to free a criminal convicted by a jury of her peers, I will continue to uphold the law and our free and fair elections.”
Earlier this week, Trump also said he planned to lead a movement “to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS” and “VOTING MACHINES.” Trump inaccurately said the U.S. was the only country in the world to use mail-in voting. He said he’d sign an executive order to stop states from using mail-in ballots and voting machines.
More than a decade ago, Colorado passed the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, which requires ballots to be mailed to all registered voters. The state also continues to offer county-based in-person voting, although only a fraction of voters have chosen to cast their ballots that way in recent years.
While Trump has been critical of mail-in voting, including in Colorado, the state’s top leader praised the system.
“We appreciate the President's awareness and recognition of Colorado’s wildly popular ability to vote by mail, which is safe, secure, and has led to record turnout for Coloradans of every party,” said Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis.
Legal experts indicate that the executive branch does not have the authority to tell states how to run their elections; rather, Congress would have to act.
Denver Clerk & Recorder Paul López stressed the point that states establish the times and manner of holding elections, according to the U.S. Constitution.
“Trump’s recent rant to call for the elimination of mail-in voting is both illegal and unconstitutional and would drag our country backward, stripping away rights that generations of Americans fought and died for,” López said in a statement. “In Colorado, mail-in voting is secure, accessible, and trusted by every party – including Republicans, who made big gains with it in 2024.”
To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org.
