Pro-Trump Colorado Official Indicted For Trying to Breach Voting Machines to Prove ‘Big Lie’
Tina Peters, the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder who has announced a run for Colorado Secretary of State, was indicted Wednesday on multiple counts related to election tampering.
A grand jury indicted the elected Republican from Colorado’s Western Slope over allegations that she illegally allowed someone to copy passwords and other files from secure voting systems and post them online, which exposed the machines to hacking.
Peters has been “charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, and one count each of conspiracy to commit attempting to influence, criminal impersonation, impersonation conspiracy, identity theft, official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state’s office,” according to USA Today’s summary of the indictment.
Mesa County, CO clerk Tina Peters and one of her deputies just got indicted on a combined 17 counts for an alleged breach of their own county’s voter data. Peters is accused of leaking the data to conspiracy theorists before giving a speech at Mike Lindell’s “Cyber Symposium.” pic.twitter.com/Zjxpojvl4F
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) March 9, 2022
Belinda Knisley, Peters’ deputy, was also indicted on Tuesday on related charges.
Peters and Knisley are accused of an elaborate operation to access the voting machines in May 2021. Authorities began investigating after voter information from the machines appeared online in August 2021, published in part by QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theorists like Ron Watkins.
Peters has become a nationally recognized figure in MAGA world as she pushed former President Donald Trump’s allegations that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Peters spoke at events like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s “cyber symposium” and has been a regular guest on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.
Following Peters’ indictment, Colorado’s top Republican asked her to exit the race for secretary of state. Axios reported, “Colorado Republican Party chairperson Kristi Burton Brown and other party leaders issued a statement Wednesday calling on secretary of state candidate Tina Peters to suspend her campaign.” As secretary of state, Peters would be in charge of running the state’s elections.
