Colorado governor likely to grant clemency to election denier Tina Peters, lawyer says

A lawyer representing Tina Peters said he expects the Democratic Colorado governor Jared Polis to commute her nine-year prison sentence, a move that could release the only person serving a sentence related to trying to overturn the 2020 election from prison.Peters was the county clerk in western Colorado’s Mesa County in 2020 and allowed an unauthorized person to use a security badge and access her county’s voting equipment. Passwords and other sensitive information related to the county’s election equipment later became public and was used by election deniers to try and question the 2020 election results.In 2024, a jury found Peters guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty, and failure to comply with the secretary of state. She was sentenced to nine years in prison.Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Polis to pardon Peters as part of a continued effort to spread false information about the 2020 election. Earlier this year he issued a federal pardon for Peters, which had no bearing on her case because she is convicted of state crimes.Peter Ticktin, a lawyer for Peters, said in an interview Wednesday he expected the governor to commute the sentence. He also noted a Colorado appeals court also appeared skeptical of the severity of Peters’ sentence during a hearing earlier this year.“I’m pretty sure. I think it’s gonna happen this week,” he said, adding he was making that prediction based on “a little more than tea leaves”.Peters’s case has been a cause celebre among Trump and supporters because she remains the only person incarcerated for attempting to overturn the 2020 election after Trump issued sweeping pardons to those involved in January 6 and aides who assisted with the false elector scheme.On Tuesday, Polis gave his strongest signal to date that he is considering granting clemency.Polis compared Peters’s case to that of a former state senator, Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who was convicted of four felonies, including an attempt to influence a public official. Lewis was sentenced to probation and community service. Lewis’s charges came from forged letters she submitted from staff as part of a legislative inquiry into whether she mistreated aides.“It is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters — attempting to influence a public official — and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first time offender got a nine year sentence,” Polis wrote on X. “Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law. This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities.”Polis’s Tuesday post caused immediate alarm in Colorado, where many officials urged the governor not to pardon Peters.Jena Griswold, Colorado’s secretary of state, said the cases of Peters and Lewis were not comparable, noting in a statement Lewis was convicted on one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery.“Beyond one count in common, it is not accurate to suggest that Peters’s and Sonya Jaquez Lewis’s actions or impacts are the same. Peters organized the breach of the election equipment, broke the public trust and attacked the very foundations of our democratic process,” Griswold, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Her actions are still being used to try to undermine the 2026 election. She should get no special treatment by the Governor, and his statement is shocking and worrisome.”The Colorado Sun asked every Democrat in the state legislature whether Polis should reduce Peters’ sentence and none said he should. “I think it’s a ridiculous idea,” state representative Karen McCormick, told the outlet. “What is he thinking?”US senator Michael Bennet, a Democrat who is running for governor of Colorado, also said Peters should not receive clemency.“Tina Peters knowingly broke the law, undermined our elections, and was rightfully convicted by a jury of her peers,” he said in a post on X. “At a moment like this, we can’t capitulate to a lawless Administration. We have to stand strong for our institutions, our democracy, and the rule of law.”Dan Rubinstein, the district attorney whose office prosecuted Peters, said it would be a “gross injustice” if her sentence were modified. He noted the law allows for a sentencing range for the same crime.“That range exists because the same offense can be committed in very different ways and result in very different consequences,” he said in a statement. “While the governor has the legal authority to modify a sentence, doing so here would be a gross injustice to the affected citizens I represent.”