Colorado governor says he will grant clemency to Trump-aligned election conspiracy theorist

Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced on Friday his decision to grant clemency to Tina Peters, a former county clerk known for her ties to election conspiracy theories. Peters was serving a nine-year prison sentence for permitting unauthorized access to voting machines following the 2020 election.

Polis, a Democrat, informed CNN that he intends to reduce Peters’ sentence by half, which could allow her to be paroled within a month, considering the time she has already served in relation to efforts to challenge the presidential election outcome.

The governor’s decision was influenced by Peters’ admission of wrongdoing in her clemency application, as reported by CNN. POLITICO has not independently verified this document.

Polis expressed to CNN that he believes Peters was unfairly penalized for expressing her views on alleged election fraud in 2020.

“I hope that Democrats don’t sacrifice our deeply held belief in free speech because of political expediency or disregard for what people are saying,” Polis told CNN. “There should be no consideration of what we say, how unpopular it is, how inaccurate it is in sentencing or in criminal proceedings.”

Polis’ decision came after significant pressure from President Donald Trump, who last year issued a symbolic pardon of Peters, although he lacks the authority to grant clemency for state law violations.

Trump has consistently called on Polis to release Peters and has taken various actions against Colorado, including a December veto of a bipartisan bill intended to provide clean water to the state, marking the only veto of his second term.

Polis clarified to CNN that, despite pressure from Trump, his clemency decision was based on the case’s merits after private discussions with the former president.

The Democratic governor, known for occasionally opposing his party, hinted in March at considering clemency for Peters after a Democratic state senator received probation and community service for similar offenses.

“Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law,” he wrote on X.

Peters was convicted on four state felony charges in August 2024 by a Colorado jury for providing unauthorized access to a right-wing activist associated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to the Mesa County election system.

During her sentencing hearing two months later, Peters stated she had “never done anything with malice to break the law.”

Peters’ conviction was upheld by an appeals court in April, but it was determined that the nine-year sentence was excessively harsh.

Before Polis’ decision, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, urged him not to grant leniency to Peters.

“Peters organized the breach of the election equipment, broke the public trust and attacked the very foundations of our democratic process,” she said. “Her actions are still being used to try to undermine the 2026 election. She should get no special treatment by the Governor, and his statement is shocking and worrisome.”

Peters’ case has drawn attention from prominent Republicans, including Trump, who falsely claim that Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory was fraudulent.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December. “Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections.”