President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social late Thursday that he was granting a pardon to Tina Peters, a 70-year-old former Colorado county clerk serving a nine-year prison sentence. The pardon follows Peters’ August 2024 conviction on multiple charges related to her access to secure election data in 2020.
In his announcement, Trump wrote: “Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest. Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections. Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”
However, constitutional limits on presidential pardon powers mean his declaration has no legal effect on state convictions.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) noted that the pardon does not apply under state law. “Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers, prosecuted by a Republican district attorney, and in a Republican county of Colorado, and found guilty of violating Colorado state laws,” he stated. “No president has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) and Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) similarly emphasized that Trump lacks constitutional authority to pardon Peters for state crimes. “Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes in a state court,” Griswold said. “Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her.”
Peters received her nine-year prison sentence in October 2024 after being found guilty on charges that stemmed from her use of another person’s security badge to allow access to Mesa County election equipment by an individual connected to election skeptic Mike Lindell.
