DENVER (AP) 鈥� Tina Peters, the former county clerk of participating in a scheme to chase election conspiracy theories promulgated by President Donald Trump, was released from state prison Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado鈥檚 Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.
Shortly after her release was confirmed by the Colorado Department of Corrections, Peters appeared on the program of Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who was part of the right-wing campaign to free Peters. Gov. Jared Polis said he would shorten Peters’ sentence if she expressed regret about her actions.
But in her interview with Bannon, Peters repeated the that voting machines cheated Trump out of reelection in 2020 and portrayed herself as a martyr to the effort to expose it.
鈥淚 know that the Democrats are going to cheat, and no one is really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for,鈥� Peters said.
Multiple , and in the where Trump disputed his 2020 loss have all affirmed that Democrat Joe Biden won. Dominion Voting Systems, the company used for Colorado elections, has also succeeded in multiple against conservative news outlets and others who repeated the false claims that its were somehow manipulated to change the outcome.
Trump’s pressure campaign
Peters鈥� sentence was shortened by Polis last month after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state. Peters served less than a quarter of her .
鈥淪he really is extremely grateful to Donald Trump,鈥� Peters鈥� attorney, Peter Ticktin, said in an interview. 鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for Donald Trump, she鈥檇 still be behind bars.鈥�
In her interview with Bannon, Peters said she plans to spend 鈥渢he next few weeks regaining my health and with loved ones and family.” She said she is interested in becoming involved in prison reform and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
Peters also is challenging her conviction, a case her attorneys hope to take to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. She told Bannon she will “fight to clear my name and bring out the truth of why they came after me the way they did.鈥�
Peters was the first local election official to be charged with breaching security after the 2020 election. She snuck in an outside computer expert affiliated with My Pillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell 鈥� who himself in 2020 鈥� and the person copied the county’s Dominion Voting Systems computer server as it was updated in 2021.
Peters then joined onstage at a 鈥渃ybersymposium鈥� that promised to reveal proof that the election was rigged. Video and photos of the computer system upgrade, including passwords, were posted online. The move stoked that voting machines were manipulated to steal from Trump.
Last year, a federal jury found that a former Dominion employee over claims related to the 2020 election.
Peters was convicted in 2024 of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and other crimes by jurors in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump. An appeals court upheld her conviction in April, but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.
Trump had championed Peters’ case, but because she was convicted under state law, he did not have the power to pardon her. Instead, the president pressured Polis to do so, lambasting him on social media and disinviting him to a with other governors. The Trump administration also announced plans to dismantle the in Colorado and the U.S. Space Command to Alabama.
Polis commuted Peters’ sentence on May 15. In a letter, he wrote that although Peters was convicted of serious crimes and deserved to spend time in prison, the sentence was 鈥渆xtremely unusual and lengthy鈥� for a first-time non-violent offender.
Polis launched a Substack over the weekend and his first post was a lengthy explanation of his reasoning in pardoning Peters. He said he was concerned about the First Amendment implications of Peters’ sentence and didn’t want to leave her in prison while she waited for the legal fight over that to conclude in the courts.
鈥淚 wanted to provide finality to this case, and as Governor I used my constitutional power of clemency to do what I believe is right,鈥� Polis wrote.
Democratic backlash against Polis
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, on Monday released a statement warning that the release will 鈥渆mbolden the election denier movement.鈥�
Colorado鈥檚 Democratic Party has already for the pardon, and the state鈥檚 Democratic politicians kept piling on Monday.
鈥淭ina Peters is walking free. A felon, convicted by a jury of her peers, walking free,鈥� Sen. Michael Bennet, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, said in a video he released shortly after Peters鈥� release.
Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesperson for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who also is running for governor, said the state鈥檚 top prosecutor 鈥渞emains concerned about her conduct upon returning to Mesa County given her lack of remorse for her crimes.鈥�
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