Every Democrat in Colorado Legislature Signs Letter Urging Gov. Polis Not to Grant Clemency to Tina Peters

AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File

Every single Democrat in the Colorado legislature signed a letter urging Gov. Jared Polis (D) not to grant clemency to Tina Peters, the former county election clerk currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for crimes she committed as part of the effort to support President Donald Trump’s claims of fraud during the 2020 election.

Prosecutors accused Peters, a staunch Trump supporter who served as the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder, of allowing an unauthorized person — later discovered to be affiliated with MyPillow founder and fellow election conspiracy monger Mike Lindell — to access and tamper with the county election equipment, breaking into the voting machines under her supervision and copying data that was later leaked online. In October 2024, she was convicted on seven charges, some of which were felonies, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, official misconduct, violation of duty, and failure to comply with an order of the secretary of state.

Trump has furiously denounced Peters’ conviction and prison sentence and called for her release, even issuing a statement purporting to pardon her. Presidents can only issue pardons or clemency for federal crimes and this was legally ineffective against the charges brought by the state of Colorado against Peters. Despite Trump’s repeated accusations that Peters had been “persecuted” by “Radical Left Democrats,” Dan Rubinstein, the District Attorney who prosecuted her, is a Republican.

In January, Polis said he was considering granting clemency because of Peters’ age and the length of her sentence, and then expressed support for considering it again in early March. He also compared her sentence to former state senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who was convicted of similar charges and expressed concerns about “sentencing disparities.”

Conservative Denver talk radio host Jimmy Sengenberger shredded Polis for that take in an op-ed for the Denver Gazette, accusing the governor of “confusing judicial discretion with disparity.”

The two cases were “dramatically different,” Sengenberger wrote, notably because “Jaquez Lewis took responsibility and showed remorse,” while “Peters did not and still hasn’t.”

The Colorado Sun polled every Democrat in the state House and Senate and could not find a single one who supported granting Peters clemency, although not all of the legislators responded to the Sun’s request for comment.

Wednesday, however, the Democratic lawmakers made their views clear, with all 66 of them signing onto a letter to Polis opposing clemency for Peters.

“We urge you not to empower those who seek to undermine our elections and our Republic by providing them with a figurehead to rally around and near assurance that, when you tamper with our elections, you will escape justice,” the letter said, according to Colorado Newsline.

“The resolution to those issues should be handled by the judicial branch,” the letter continued. “It is our understanding that such a review is underway with further information being sought by the court, and we urge you to allow that process to advance and for the judicial system alone to handle review of any further actions in this case.”

“We would be remiss if we did not express strong concern about the impact of Ms. Peters’ crimes in fueling election conspiracy theories that undermine the integrity of our elections system as a whole,” the lawmakers urged. “We fear that any clemency or other sentence reduction on your part will further embolden these conspiracies and those who propagate them.”

Democrats hold majorities in both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly: 23 Democrats to 12 Republicans in the state senate and 43 to 12 in the state house (one seat vacant). This means the letter signers have the numbers to launch impeachment proceedings against the governor, an extraordinary but theoretically possible response. Under the Colorado Constitution, the power of impeachment rests with the state house, the state senate holds the trial, and the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court presides over impeachment trials for governors or lieutenant governors. A vote of two-thirds of the state senate is needed for a conviction.

Other Colorado officials who have publicly voiced their opposition to clemency for Peters include Attorney General Phil Weiser (D), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D), plus Rubenstein, the Republican Mesa County District Attorney who prosecuted her.

Wednesday afternoon, The Denver Post reported that Polis had decided to “delay his decision on whether to commute Tina Peters’ prison sentence until after the Colorado Court of Appeals issues a ruling in her case.”

If Polis decides against clemency, the estimated date when Peters would be eligible for parole is November 2028, according to the Post.

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