President Donald Trump says he’s directing the U.S. Department of Justice “to help secure the release” of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who’s in a Colorado prison for her role in tampering with election equipment.
Peters, who was the Republican clerk of the western Colorado county during the 2020 election, was found guilty by a grand jury on seven charges related to election integrity, including three counts of attempting to influence a public official. She was sentenced to nine years in prison last October.
“Radical Left Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser ignores Illegals committing Violent Crimes like Rape and Murder in his State and, instead, jailed Tina Peters, a 69-year-old Gold Star mother who worked to expose and document Democrat Election Fraud,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, calling her an “innocent Political Prisoner being horribly and unjustly punished in the form of Cruel and Unusual Punishment.”
Trump pointed to Democrats flying to El Salvador to try and free Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who his administration alleges is an MS-13 gang member, while at the same time “cruelly imprisoning” Peters.
In the months after the 2020 election, Peters allowed an unauthorized person access to the county’s electronic voting machines and take images of server hard drives.
“Colorado must end this unjust incarceration of an innocent American,” Trump added. “I am hereby directing the Department of Justice to take all necessary action to help secure the release of this ‘hostage’ being held in a Colorado prison by the Democrats, for political reasons. FREE TINA PETERS, NOW!”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser responded to Trump’s comments in a written statement provided to The Center Square.
“Tina Peters is in prison because of her own actions. A grand jury indicted her, and a trial jury found her guilty of breaking Colorado’s criminal laws. No one is above the law,” he said. “The Colorado Attorney General’s Office will continue to defend this criminal conviction in post-conviction proceedings and on appeal. We are firm in pursuing justice for the people of the state of Colorado, protecting free and fair elections, and standing up for the rule of law.”
