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President Donald Trump said Thursday he is issuing a pardon to Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk serving a nine-year state sentence for allowing unauthorized access to voting machines — even though the president’s clemency authority applies only to federal crimes.
“Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, calling her a “Patriot” who sought to safeguard elections. Peters was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney and convicted last year on seven state charges, including attempting to influence a public servant and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.
Colorado officials forcefully rejected Trump’s claim of authority.
“Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement. “His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states’ rights and the American constitution.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the idea that a president can overturn a state conviction “has no precedent in American law” and “will not hold up.” State officials stressed that criminal justice in Colorado is the sole province of the state’s courts.
Peters, a former Mesa County clerk and ally of national figures who falsely claim voting machines were rigged in 2020, was convicted after prosecutors said she orchestrated a scheme in 2021 to grant an unauthorized individual access to secure voting systems. Data from those machines later surfaced online.
At sentencing, Judge Matthew Barrett called Peters a “charlatan” who was “as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen.” Peters has denied wrongdoing. A federal magistrate judge this week rejected her request to be released during appeal.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday that “no President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions,” adding that Colorado would abide by court orders, not presidential declarations.
Despite longstanding constitutional interpretation limiting the pardon power to “Offences against the United States,” Peters’ attorney, Peter Ticktin, argued in a recent letter that Trump’s authority may extend to state crimes. Ticktin acknowledged that such a claim “has never been raised in any court.” He thanked Trump Thursday and said Peters “needs to be released while the issues are being resolved.”
Trump has shown a personal interest in the case, warning in August that he would take “harsh measures” if Peters remained in state custody. Last month, the Federal Bureau of Prisons asked Colorado to transfer her to federal custody, a request state officials resisted.
The president has previously intervened on behalf of individuals who supported his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Shortly after taking office in January, he issued pardons or commutations to all those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Last month he granted clemency to dozens of defendants in state cases connected to efforts to challenge his 2020 loss, including “alternate electors” and former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
