Convicted election denier Tina Peters released from prison

Tina Peters, the former Colorado GOP election clerk convicted for her role in a 2021 voting system breach, was released from prison Monday, after Gov. Jared Polis (D) commuted her sentence last month.

Peters was convicted in 2024 after prosecutors showed she facilitated unauthorized access to Mesa County voting equipment and helped expose sensitive system data, actions driven by false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. A jury found Peters guilty on multiple counts, and she was sentenced to nine years in prison by a judge who called her a “charlatan” who peddled “snake oil” and said she showed no remorse for her actions.

Minutes after she was released from prison, Peters appeared on the podcast of former President Donald Trump senior advisor Steve Bannon, where she continued to espouse the same conspiracies that led to her conviction. 

“I see these elections that are taking place in real time: The Mamdanis, the Virginia governor, Spanberger, and then what’s going on in California and Texas and Maine — just all over the country,” Peters said. “And I know that the Democrats are going to cheat, and no one’s really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for, and that was exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped.”

Colorado Sec. of State Jena Griswold (D) warned that Peters’ release will “embolden” election deniers.

“The Governor’s grant of clemency to Tina Peters is an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country,” Griswold said in a statement to Democracy Docket. “It sends a dangerous message about accountability for those who would attack elections. Peters’ release also will embolden the election denial movement; since the grant of clemency, she has continued to spread election falsehoods and conspiracies.”

Since her incarceration, Peters has become a cause célèbre among election deniers, MAGA supporters, and the far-right. Trump repeatedly called on Polis to free Peters and appeared to punish Colorado with funding cuts and other retaliatory measures for keeping her locked up.

“Tina Peters’ actions have made life harder, not only for election officials here in Colorado, but make no mistake, for election officials all across the country,” Matt Crane, a former Republican clerk and executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said last month. “Her conduct became a rallying point for election conspiracy movements that fueled hostility and distrust towards the very people responsible for administering free and fair elections.”

Now that Peters is set to be freed, the same people who called for her release are now demanding retribution against the Colorado officials who convicted her. 

“We need to bring accountability for what these lawfare Democrats did to Tina Peters,” conservative attorney Mike Davis said on Bannon’s show Monday. “They openly went after her for her First Amendment-protected views.”

Polis’ actions have been widely condemned by election officials and Democratic and Republican elected officials in his state. Shortly after Polis commuted Peters’ sentence, he was censured by his own state Democratic party, which means he’s no longer welcomed to participate “as an honored guest, featured speaker, or officially recognized representative” at any state events sponsored by his own party.

But a social media account managed by Peters’ legal team defended Polis — and suggested that the censure was further evidence of Democrats trying to cover up a rigged 2020 election.

“The censure of Governor Polis shows just how radical the left has truly become,” the post said. “And if they are this afraid of mercy being shown to one whistleblower, the public should ask what they are still trying so hard to hide.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) said Peters’ social media posts show she “lacks remorse” for her actions. 

“If you needed proof that Tina Peters lacks remorse, read the post below,” Weiser said on X, in response to Peters’ social media post. “Commuting her sentence was a historic mistake, a disservice to those who protect our elections, and an insult to those of us who worked on this criminal prosecution.”