Democratic governor under fire over clemency for 2020 election denier

"I made mistakes, and for those I am sorry," Peters said, in part. "I have learned and grown during my time in prison and going forward I will make sure that my actions always follow the law, and I will avoid the mistakes of the past." Defending his commutation of Peters, Governor Polis argued that while she did commit a crime, her "sentence is simply disproportionate for a first time, non-violent offender"."To be clear, I am not pardoning Tina Peters, and I have never considered a pardon," Polis wrote in a lengthy Facebook post."Tina Peters violated state law and broke the public trust by lying to the Secretary of State and illegally accessing a computer room in 2021 prior to a software update," Polis said. "Her actions were clearly illegal, wrong, and financially costly to Mesa County, and Colorado.""It's one of my bedrock beliefs that our laws should be applied fairly, and I simply do not believe that was what happened in this case," he added.But many of his fellow Democrats did not see it the same way. "I strongly disagree with this decision," Democratic Senator of Colorado John Hickenlooper wrote on X. "Reducing her sentence sends the wrong message to those seeking to undermine trust in our elections and it will do nothing to deter Donald Trump's illegal attacks on Colorado."Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, called the move "truly mind-boggling". "This commutation decision is wrong and is an affront to the rule of law," he said.