In a symbolic gesture, Donald Trump has extended a pardon to a former Colorado county elections official, Tina Peters, who was found guilty of attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 election.

This presidential action, however, does not alter Peters’ current circumstances, as she remains incarcerated. Peters, who served as the Mesa County clerk, was convicted for orchestrating a data breach fueled by baseless claims of electoral fraud during the 2020 presidential race.

Last year, Peters received a nine-year prison sentence after her conviction in state court. On Monday, a federal magistrate judge denied her request for release pending the appeal of her state conviction. Efforts by the Trump administration to transfer Peters from state to federal custody have been unsuccessful.

It is important to note that Trump’s pardon authority is limited to federal offenses, leaving state convictions unaffected.

Trump´s pardon power applies only to federal courts. 

The president announced his action on Truth Social, repeating his false claims of election fraud.

‘Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest,’ Trump wrote. 

‘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!’ 

Donald Trump issued a symbolic pardon of a former Colorado county elections official Tina Peters (pictured), who was convicted of trying to overturn the 2020 election

The president’s action won´t free Tina Peters, an ex-administrator who was convicted of orchestrating a data breach scheme driven by false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election

Trump also complained of Democrat hypocrisy, accusing them of ignoring ‘violent and vicious crime of all shapes, sizes, colors, and types. Violent Criminals who should have been locked up were allowed to attack again. 

‘Democrats were also far too happy to let in the worst from the worst countries so they could rip off American Taxpayers.’ 

Trump surmised that ‘Democrats only think there is one crime – Not voting for them!’

Governor Jared Polis told The Daily Mail that Trump’s pardon had no authority in his state. 

‘Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers, prosecuted by a Republican District Attorney and in a Republican county of Colorado and found guilty of violating Colorado state laws including criminal impersonation,’ he said. 

‘No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions. This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders.’ 

On Monday, a federal magistrate judge rejected a bid by Peters to be released from prison.

Peters filed a federal lawsuit asking that she be released on bond while her appeal is considered. 

Peters, the former Mesa County clerk, was convicted last year in state court and sentenced to nine years in prison

Attorneys for the state had argued the appeal case should be thrown out partly because of a legal doctrine that prevents federal courts from getting involved in pending state criminal cases.

Federal magistrate judge Scott Varholak ruled Monday that Peters didn´t make a case that he should get involved in overturning her state sentence.

Peters’ attorney, John Case, said in an emailed statement that they were disappointed in the ruling. He maintained that Peters is innocent and that voting machines can’t be trusted.

‘When Tina is released, and she will be released in time, hopefully soon, it will mean that we are healing from the atrocities which have befallen Tina and the people of Colorado,’ Case wrote.

Peters argued that the magistrate judge should free her because she said the state judge who sentenced her to nine years behind bars violated her First Amendment rights. 

She claimed he punished her for making allegations about election fraud, but prosecutors argued that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed judges to consider people´s speech during sentencings if they deem it relevant.

During Peters´ October 2024 sentencing, Judge Matthew Barrett called the defendant a ‘charlatan’ and said she posed a danger to the community for spreading lies about voting and undermining the democratic process.

Peters was unapologetic and insisted that everything she did was geared toward trying to unroot what she believed was fraud. She claimed her actions were done for the greater good.

Her lawyers argued that Barrett was wrong to call Peters’ statements ‘lies’ and said there was no evidence her speech posed a danger.

The administration sent a letter to the Colorado prison system in mid-November asking that Peters be transferred to federal custody. 

Governor Jared Polis (pictured) told The Daily Mail that Trump’s pardon had no authority in his state

One of her lawyers said he believed the request was made so Peters could more easily be involved in the investigation into the election.

There is no evidence of any widespread cheating in Colorado elections, which have been staunchly defended by county clerks throughout the state, most of whom are Republican. 

Peters was prosecuted by an elected Republican district attorney, and the three supervisors in her conservative-leaning county also supported the case and defended the integrity of the state´s elections.

Trump first threatened to punish those involved in Peters, 69, going to prison in August.  

She was the first election official in the country to be found guilty on charges relating to her attempts to prove Trump’s claims that the election was stolen. She is currently serving out a nine year jail sentence. 

Prosecutors claimed that Peters gave an unauthorized user access to sensitive election data in her office by swiping someone else’s security badge.

The information taken from her office soon appeared online after Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell released it to try to prove the election was stolen.

‘FREE TINA 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,’ Trump wrote to his followers on Truth Social.

Prosecutors claimed that Peters gave an unauthorized user access to sensitive election data in her office by swiping someone else’s security badge. The information taken from her office soon appeared online after Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell (pictured) released it to try to prove the election was stolen

Trump did not specify what specific measure he would take against Colorado’s politicians if they did not release Peters

Peters started her sentence in La Vista Correctional Facility last year before Trump took office for his second term.

‘Let Tina Peters out of jail, RIGHT NOW. She did nothing wrong, except catching the Democrats cheat in the Election.’

Trump added, ‘She is an old woman, and very sick. If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!’

Prosecutors said that in May 2021, Peters provided an unauthorized individual, Conan Hayes, access to the Mesa county election system during a software update. 

Hayes, posing a employee of the county clerk’s office, used his badge to make copies of Dominion Voting Systems hard drives. 

Prosecutors allege both Peters and Hayes believed information on the hard drives would prove machine voting had stolen the election from by Trump.  

Following her trial in 2024, Peters was found guilty of seven charges, including three counts of attempting to influence a public official, violation of duty, official misconduct, failure to comply with an order from the Colorado secretary of state, and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. 

Despite her conviction, Peters maintained her innocence during her sentencing hearing while promoting the claim the election was stolen.

‘I’m not a criminal, and I don’t deserve to go to a prison where other people committed heinous crimes,’ she said.

This is not the first time Trump has tried to push for Peters to be released since taking office. 

Back in May, the president directed the U.S. Department of Justice ‘to take all necessary action to help secure the release’ of Peters.