Trump Pardons Former Colorado Clerk Tina Peters, State Conviction Stands

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has granted a full presidential pardon to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County, Colorado clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines following the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Peters was sentenced in October 2024 to nine years in prison after being found guilty on seven charges, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. Prosecutors alleged that in 2021, Peters and others orchestrated a scheme to grant unauthorized access to Mesa County voting machines, leading to the online dissemination of images from the county's voting equipment.

Despite the presidential pardon, Peters remains incarcerated, as the president's clemency powers apply only to federal offenses and do not extend to state convictions. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser stated, "The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up."

President Trump, in his announcement, reiterated his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, describing Peters as a "Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest." However, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold emphasized that Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes, and that the president has no constitutional authority to pardon her.

Legal experts affirm that presidential pardons do not affect state convictions, and Peters' legal status remains unchanged despite the pardon.