Tina Peters, the former Colorado elections clerk, is asking the state appeals court to recognize President Donald Trump’s pardon and release her from prison. Peters’ lawyers filed a motion Tuesday claiming the pardon issued Dec. 5 removes the court’s jurisdiction over her case.
Peters was convicted of state crimes in Mesa County for orchestrating a data breach scheme tied to false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s presidential pardon power applies only to federal offenses, not state convictions.
In their court filing, Peters’ attorneys cited historical precedent, noting that President George Washington issued pardons for individuals convicted of both state and federal crimes during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1795. They urged the appeals court to rule quickly. Arguments in Peters’ appeal are scheduled for Jan. 14.
The appeals court allowed Colorado’s attorney general’s office to respond to Peters’ request by Jan. 8. The office, which is defending her conviction, has not commented on the filing. Attorney General Phil Weiser previously said that a president pardoning a state conviction “has no precedent in American law” and would not hold up under the Constitution.
If the court rules that Trump’s pardon does not apply, Peters’ attorneys said they could appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court while her state appeal continues. Meanwhile, her legal team asked the state prison system to release her based on the pardon, but the request was denied. Peters also previously lost a federal bid to be released while her state appeal is considered.
Peters claims that the state judge who sentenced her to nine years in prison violated her First Amendment rights by punishing her for raising election fraud allegations. During her October 2024 sentencing, Judge Matthew Barrett described Peters as a “charlatan” and said she posed a danger to the community for spreading false claims about voting.
Despite the judge’s statements, Peters maintained that her actions were aimed at exposing election fraud, which she believed justified her conduct. She was convicted for allowing an individual to misuse a security card to access election systems and for providing deceptive information about the person’s identity. The individual had ties to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of unsubstantiated claims that voting machines were manipulated to affect the 2020 election.
Peters’ appeal and her request for release highlight ongoing debates over presidential pardon powers and state court authority. Legal experts note that no sitting president has successfully pardoned someone convicted of a state crime, making Peters’ case highly unusual and potentially precedent-setting.
As the appeals court reviews her motion, the legal battle over Trump’s pardon and Peters’ potential release continues to draw national attention, particularly among those following election integrity controversies and presidential pardon powers.
