Tina Peters' lawyers try to convince Colorado court to overturn conviction for voting system breach [View all]
Source: AP
Updated 8:01 AM EST, January 14, 2026
DENVER (AP) — Lawyers for former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters will try to convince a state appeals court on Wednesday to overturn her conviction in a case revolving around the 2020 presidential election as her supporters, including President Donald Trump, continue to pressure the state to set her free.
Peters, the former clerk in Mesa County, was convicted of state crimes for orchestrating a data breach of the county’s elections equipment, driven by false claims about voting machine fraud after Trump lost his reelection bid. She is serving a nine-year sentence at a prison in Pueblo after being convicted in 2024 in her home county, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump.
Trump pardoned Peters in December, but his pardon power does not extend to state crimes. Peters’ lawyers have said Trump has the authority to pardon her, arguing that President George Washington issued pardons to people convicted of both state and federal crimes during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1795.
Lawyers for the state pointed out that the governor of Pennsylvania at the time issued pardons to those who broke state laws during the unrest. Peters’ lawyers then argued that the president has a right to pardon people who committed crimes to carry out federal duties, such as preserving election information.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/tina-peters-colorado-2020-election-trump-e20be91151cf33efcd64da1497909f32
(I am not aware of J6 insurrectionists from PA (and there were quite a few including a sitting state Senator - Doug Mastriano - as well as the loon Scott Perry), being pardoned by then-governor Tom Wolf... and governors of CO have the option for different types of clemency, that supposedly Polis is looking at, but he has not made any decision)
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