Trump ally convicted of in Colorado vote tampering case released from prison early : NPR

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

A former Colorado elections official and ally of President Donald Trump was released from prison early today. Tina Peters was initially sentenced to nearly nine years for actions related to tampering with voting machines after the 2020 election. Bente Birkeland covers politics for Colorado Public Radio and is here with more. Hi.

BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: Hello.

SUMMERS: So Tina Peters is the former clerk of Mesa County, Colorado. Did she tamper with voting machines there?

BIRKELAND: At the time, she was linked to allies of President Trump pushing false claims about elections. And in 2024, Peters was convicted of several felonies and misdemeanors for giving access to her county’s voting machines to someone linked to election conspiracies. And she said she allowed this person to search for evidence of election rigging and capture images during a secure system update.

SUMMERS: So she was convicted not of tampering, but of lying to the state about allowing someone from outside to access the machines?

BIRKELAND: Yes. And Peters has always maintained she had a legal right to look into the voting machines. Hours after her release from prison today, she was touting her claims on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.

(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, “BANNON’S WAR ROOM”)

TINA PETERS: I know that the Democrats are going to cheat. And no one’s really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for, and that was exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped.

BIRKELAND: I do want to note that audits, hand counts and lawsuits have found no evidence of these machines flipping votes. And Colorado clerks in both parties say the state’s elections are secure and accurate.

SUMMERS: Now, didn’t President Trump try to pardon her?

BIRKELAND: Yes, he did issue a presidential pardon, but it was just symbolic. He wasn’t able to pardon her because her convictions were in state not federal court. And for a long time, she didn’t appear to be on the president’s radar. But in the last year, she certainly has been. Trump has repeatedly called for the state to release her, and he said Peters is a political prisoner held hostage by Democrats.

SUMMERS: Now, Democrats say that President Trump pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor to free Peters, withholding a lot of federal money from the state. Is that in any way tied to her release today?

BIRKELAND: Governor Jared Polis is adamant that he did not make his decision because of Trump. He said the sentence Peters was given was just too harsh. The Colorado Court of Appeals ordered her resentenced, but Polis’ commutation took effect before that could happen. Polis said Peters is guilty, but he agreed with the Colorado appeals court, which determined that her election-denying beliefs may have affected the length of her sentence. Polis said her beliefs may be nutty and wrong, but she has a First Amendment right to make them. And he noted she’s 70 years old, and she’s a nonviolent first-time offender.

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JARED POLIS: The issue is really whether her free speech – her incorrect and, you know, free speech around election conspiracy theories – was held against her in sentencing.

SUMMERS: And how is the governor’s commutation of her sentence being received there in Colorado?

BIRKELAND: Polis received immediate blowback from state officials at all levels. And in an extraordinary move, the Colorado Democratic Party formally censured the governor. They also suspended him from speaking at Democratic Party events for the rest of his term in office. They said his decision is dangerous and reckless. And I’ll add Polis is term-limited, and he will leave office at the end of the year.

SUMMERS: Bente Birkeland covers politics for Colorado Public Radio. Thanks so much.

BIRKELAND: Thank you.

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