President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he is pardoning Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who has repeatedly promoted false claims about the 2020 election and was convicted last year for her role in a voting system security breach.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, framing Peters as a political target rather than a convicted criminal. The move is largely symbolic because Peters was convicted on state charges, which are not covered by presidential pardon powers. Peters is currently serving time in a Colorado prison.
“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.
“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!” he added.
Peters was convicted last year on four felony counts and three misdemeanor charges tied to a security breach in Mesa County’s election system. Prosecutors said she used another person’s security badge to allow unauthorized access to voting equipment. She was later sentenced to nine years in prison.
According to The Associated Press, a federal judge denied Peters’ request earlier this week to be released from prison while she appeals her conviction. That decision means she will remain behind bars as her legal fight continues through the courts.
After Trump’s announcement, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser pushed back strongly, making it clear that the president does not have the authority to wipe away Peters’ conviction.
“The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up,” Weiser said in a statement.
The case against Peters centered on her role in granting access to sensitive election equipment to someone linked to MyPillow founder Mike Lindell. Lindell is a vocal election denier and longtime Trump ally who has helped promote conspiracy theories about voting machines and the 2020 election.
The equipment involved included systems made by Dominion Voting Systems, which has been at the center of repeated false claims about election manipulation. Investigators said the breach risked exposing confidential voting data and undermining election security.
Earlier Thursday, Lindell announced he plans to run for governor of Minnesota next year, further tying together political ambitions and ongoing election denial narratives.
Trump’s announcement fits into a broader pattern of publicly backing figures tied to efforts to challenge or overturn the 2020 election results. Last month, he issued similarly symbolic pardons for his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and dozens of others connected to those efforts.
Those pardons included lawyers Sidney Powell, John Eastman, and Kenneth Chesebro, all of whom played roles in promoting legal strategies aimed at keeping Trump in power after his election loss. Trump also extended a pardon to his former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Legal experts have repeatedly noted that presidential pardons do not apply to state convictions, making Trump’s declaration more political than practical. Still, the statement sends a clear message to supporters and critics alike about how Trump views those prosecuted over election-related actions.
Peters’ appeal remains ongoing, but for now, she remains in prison despite Trump’s public show of support.