A few weeks ago, the White House went a step further in trying to help former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters. Trump’s Federal Bureau of Prisons reached out to the Colorado Department of Corrections, asking to move Peters out of state prison and into federal custody. According to The Associated Press, Colorado basically said no thanks.
State officials told the AP they have no plans to transfer Peters, who became a star for election conspiracy theorists after she was convicted last year for orchestrating a scheme in Mesa County that compromised voting machine data based on false claims about the 2020 election.
Colorado Department of Corrections spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez Garcia made it clear that transfers start with the state itself. “Transferring an individual is an action initiated by the Colorado Department of Corrections, not an outside entity,” she told the AP.
Peters didn’t just repeat Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud in 2020. She took action. Investigators found she used someone’s security badge to help an associate of Mike Lindell access county election equipment. The goal appeared to be to leak sensitive voting machine data to feed a conspiracy theory that never had any basis in reality.
She was indicted and pleaded not guilty, but her team struggled to mount a convincing defense. A Colorado jury found her guilty on multiple charges, including attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the Secretary of State. She showed no remorse before sentencing, and a judge handed her nine years in prison.
Trump hasn’t accepted that outcome. In early March, the Justice Department’s civil division filed a surprise brief in federal court expressing “concerns” about her conviction. Nothing came of it, but Trump stayed locked in on the case. By May, he was publicly calling for Peters to be released and ordering the Justice Department to take “all necessary action” to help free her, even though he has no authority over state convictions. He also labeled her a “Political Prisoner” and a “hostage” and claimed her prosecution was “a Communist persecution.”
He kept the pressure on in August when he threatened Colorado with “harsh measures” unless the state freed her, saying she had been “tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians.” In September, he said he would “do something” for her and he brought her up again last week.
Tina Peters' attorney is backing the idea of President Trump using a military raid to free her from a prison in Colorado. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of Colorado's county clerks say Gov Polis (D) is betraying election workers with his silence on whether he'll free Peters.
— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) November 26, 2025 at 6:51 AM
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Despite all of this, Trump simply has no power to change the outcome. Peters was a state official charged with state crimes in a state court. A state jury convicted her, and a state judge sentenced her. None of that is under presidential control, and the Justice Department can’t override a state conviction either.
That hasn’t stopped Trump from trying. And apparently, it hasn’t stopped Peters’ defense attorney from floating extreme ideas. He recently told Steve Bannon he wants Trump to send U.S. military personnel to the Colorado prison to free her. He did not sound like he was joking.