Colorado clemency board members spoke against freeing Tina Peters. Governor Jared Polis fired them

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) fired two members of Colorado’s clemency advisory board Wednesday for speaking out against his decision to free convicted election denier Tina Peters. 

The move, first reported by the New York Times, marks the latest effort by Polis to defend himself for granting clemency to Peters after his actions were widely condemned by fellow elected officials, Colorado Democrats and Republican officials. 

Polis announced in May that he granted clemency to Peters, a former GOP election official who was convicted for her role in a 2021 voting system breach that was motivated by conspiracies. Polis reduced Peters’ nine-year prison sentence, which allowed her to be released on parole earlier this month. 

But Polis went against his own 11-person clemency advisory board, which twice voted unanimously against recommending clemency for Peters, in commuting her sentence. Typically, board members don’t disclose the details of pardon and clemency recommendations but two members decided to speak out because of Polis’ actions. 

“He’s saying the public doesn’t have the right to know his own advisory board told him no — twice,” Azra Taslimi, a Denver lawyer who was removed from the board, reportedly said. “He’s not protecting a process. He’s protecting himself from scrutiny.”

For months, Trump and an army of election deniers and anti-voting activists pressured Polis to free Peters. Trump even threatened funding cuts and punished Colorado in other ways over Polis’ refusal to free Peters. 

Initially, Polis resisted pressure and indicated he would not free Peters.

“This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders,” he said in December.

But Polis eventually caved. He said his decision wasn’t motivated by politics or pressure, but because he believed Peters — whose actions were motivated by election conspiracy theories — was remorseful and took responsibility for her crimes.

Since her release, Peters has been on a tour of right-wing podcasts and events, where she continues to spread the same conspiracy theories that led to her conviction. In one recent podcast appearance she was asked if she was remorseful for her actions. 

“I do show remorse,” Peters said. “The remorse is that people that should be in prison are not. That’s my remorse.”

Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) was one of many Colorado elected officials who slammed Polis for freeing Peters. 

“It is a gross injustice to our elections, election workers and democracy with far-reaching consequences,” she said at the time. “This is a dark day for democracy.”

Polis’ own party went so far as to censure him for commuting Peters’ sentence and warned of the consequences.

“It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president. That’s a dangerous and disappointing precedent to set.”

Peters, who became a cause célèbre in the MAGA world, met with Trump at the White House this week. Afterward the president posted on Truth Social that she visited to thank him for getting her out of prison. 

“She was put there because she found Election Fraud, but instead of arresting the people that committed the Fraud, they arrested her!” Trump falsely claimed.