❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump announced a pardon for former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, but her conviction is on state charges, which federal pardons do not cover.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Donald Trump, Tina Peters, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D), Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D), and Attorney General Phil Weiser (D).
📍WHEN & WHERE: Trump made the announcement on Truth Social on Thursday evening; Peters is serving her sentence in Colorado.
💬KEY QUOTE: “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
🎯IMPACT: The announcement has no legal effect on Peters’ state conviction.
President Donald J. Trump announced on Truth Social late Thursday that he was granting a pardon to Tina Peters, a 70-year-old former Colorado county clerk serving a nine-year prison sentence. Peters was convicted on state charges related to her involvement in accessing secure election data in 2020, a move she claimed was to expose voter 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,” President Trump wrote, adding: “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!”
However, constitutional limits on presidential pardon powers mean his declaration of clemency has no legal effect on state convictions.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D), responding to the pardon announcement, noted the constitutional limits on presidential pardons. “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,” Polis stated. He continued, “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.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) and Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) echoed the governor. “Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes in a state court. Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her. His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states’ rights and the American constitution,” Griswold—who attempted to remove President Trump from the 2024 election ballot in Colorado—said in a statement.
Peters’ case has drawn national attention, with Trump previously directing federal authorities to intervene on her behalf. Despite her conviction, Peters has maintained her innocence and gained support from MAGA activists. In October of 2024, Peters received a nine-year prison sentence for allowing 2020 election skeptics to replicate Dominion voting machine hard drives to check for evidence of fraud. Peters was convicted in August 2024 on multiple charges, including official misconduct. The charges stemmed from her use of another person’s security badge to allow access to Mesa County election equipment by an individual connected to election skeptic Mike Lindell.
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