STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
President Trump says he is pardoning one of the most ardent election deniers still serving time. That's what he says. Tina Peters, a former Colorado elections clerk, has been serving a nine-year sentence relating to tampering with election equipment. Bente Birkeland of Colorado Public Radio is covering this story. Good morning.
BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: He says he's pardoning Tina Peters. Can the president pardon Tina Peters?
BIRKELAND: No, he cannot pardon Peters. Peters was convicted in 2024 in state court, so the only person who could pardon Tina Peters is Colorado's Democratic Governor Jared Polis. In a statement, Polis reiterated that President Trump has no jurisdiction over state law and state crimes and said it was a matter for the courts to decide. Colorado's secretary of state, Democrat Jena Griswold, called Trump's social media post a lawless intrusion on states' rights.
JENA GRISWOLD: Tina Peters compromised her own voting equipment trying to prove Trump's lie. She was convicted by a jury of her peers of several felonies in a conservative Colorado county. And she is now serving her time. She is not a political prisoner. She's a criminal.
INSKEEP: This is really interesting, Bente, because we had this entire controversy during the 2020 election that Trump lost where there were all kinds of stories, never validated, about alleged fiddling with voting equipment. And it turned out somebody fiddled with the equipment for Trump. What were the details of her case?
BIRKELAND: So Peters is 70 years old. And she was a Republican county clerk in Mesa County. And this is in western Colorado. And what occurred happened months after the 2020 presidential election. And this was after all the false claims were circulating that the election was stolen. Peters allowed an unauthorized person to access the county's Dominion voting machines. She says she was in search of voter fraud. She was convicted of multiple felonies and misdemeanors last year. And Trump and his allies have hailed her as a patriot.
INSKEEP: What was her defense?
BIRKELAND: Peters argued that she was just preserving election records and that everything she did was well within her authority as the county clerk. Peters' attorneys say the state court failed to consider a number of federal laws and violated the First Amendment. Her attorney is Peter Ticktin. And he's an ally of President Trump's. They actually went to high school together. I talked to him about the case recently. And he says the government has been weaponized against Trump supporters like Peters.
PETER TICKTIN: Tina Peters is a proud American. And she's not embarrassed or ashamed of it in any way. She's proud of what she's done because she's not a criminal. She's just a good person.
INSKEEP: Wait a minute. So she had a First Amendment right to allow unauthorized access to a Dominion voting machine?
BIRKELAND: The First Amendment right is really centered on the length of her sentence and also, you know, her appeal process.
INSKEEP: OK. So what is next for Peters?
BIRKELAND: Well, this appeal of her state conviction and oral arguments in that case are scheduled for January. The U.S. Department of Justice also asked Colorado to move Peters to federal custody, citing security concerns. The state denied that request.
INSKEEP: OK, so just bottom line then, President Trump says I pardon this person. Nothing has actually happened because she's in state custody, right?
BIRKELAND: Yes, that's right.
INSKEEP: OK. Bente Birkeland of Colorado Public Radio, thanks so much for the insights. Really appreciate it.
BIRKELAND: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF LOWERCASE NOISES' "THE HUNGRY YEARS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
