Colorado Governor Commutes Sentence of Tina Peters

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday he is commuting the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who had been serving a nearly nine-year term for her role in a plot involving unauthorized access to voting machines after the 2020 presidential election.

The decision follows months of pressure from President Trump, who had threatened harsh measures if the state did not free Peters. Polis said he acted because the long prison term was very unusual for a first-time nonviolent offender and agreed with an appellate court ruling that the original judge placed too much weight on Peters' beliefs about election fraud, which are protected speech.

Peters will be released on parole effective June 1 after the commutation reduces her sentence to time served. The action does not erase her conviction on seven counts including attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and official misconduct.

Boebert Links Commutation to Water Project Funding Republican Rep.

Lauren Boebert welcomed the commutation and suggested it could resolve a separate dispute over federal funding. In January, President Trump vetoed legislation that would have funded a clean drinking water project serving 50,000 people in her district, even though the bill passed the House and Senate unanimously.

Boebert told 9News Denver she hoped Peters' release would convince Trump to stop blocking the funds. "We were told that Tina was the reason we couldn't get water," Boebert said, drawing a comparison to Trump's 2019 withholding of aid to Ukraine. The congresswoman credited both her office and Trump for the outcome.

She had previously criticized colleagues for upholding the veto while stopping short of criticizing the president.

Conviction and Appeals Court Ruling

Prosecutors said Peters devised a scheme in 2021 that allowed an unauthorized person to access Mesa County voting equipment, after which images from the machines appeared online. An appeals court upheld the conviction last month but ordered resentencing, finding the original judge gave undue weight to Peters' election-related beliefs.

At her sentencing, the judge had called her a charlatan and noted her defiance in court. Peters issued an apology Friday, stating she made mistakes and misled the Secretary of State when allowing access to county voting equipment. "That was wrong," she said.

“She has crazy viewpoints, conspiratorial viewpoints that are not accurate, not true. But that is not a crime in our country or in our state." — Gov. The state attorney general described the decision as caving to presidential pressure. A Republican state senator running for governor said she would have preferred to let the judicial process run its course with the ordered resentencing before any commutation, though she wished Peters well. Trump celebrated the news on Truth Social with the message "FREE TINA!" Polis stated he did not speak with Trump about the decision and rejected suggestions he was yielding to political pressure, emphasizing the need for consistent and fair clemency regardless of beliefs. The commutation was part of a broader grant of pardons and commutations to 44 people announced Friday.”