DENVER, Colo. (KOAA) — Governor Jared Polis is increasingly indicating he’s considering some form of clemency for Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted of an election security breach.
Though her name wasn’t mentioned during his final State of the State address last week, reporters pressed him on the topic in a briefing after the speech.
Polis said the growing chorus believing he’ll issue a pardon or commutation of her sentence isn’t overshadowing any of his priorities in his final year of office. He added Tina Peters isn’t part of his “proactive messaging.”
“I think that her sentence is unusual and harsh with a first time offender, nonviolent offender gets,” said the governor. “There were remarks similarly in the courtroom yesterday, and that's something that we weigh along with the other factors.”
Polis referenced an appeals court hearing last week where the judges suggested Peters’ sentence was perhaps too harsh.
The three judges all expressed concern about District Court Judge Matthew Barrett's statements during Peters' sentencing.
He called her a “charlatan” and said she posed a danger to the community for spreading lies about voting and undermining the democratic process.
“It's interesting that people are focused on her because obviously there's people that have committed violent crimes have applied,” said Polis. “There's many others and when we do that, you'll certainly be able to look at who I chose to give clemency to and who we chose to pardon.”
It took multiple questions from multiple reporters asking if Governor Polis had discussions with the Trump Administration about trading a Tina Peters clemency for something else, as the president has targeted Colorado with moves such as safety net funding freezes and dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Ultimately, Polis finally answered the question with a brisk “No.” In a separate one-on-one interview with KOAA afterwards, Polis once again reiterated he’s had no discussion with the federal government for a type of quid pro quo related to Tina Peters.
One rumor floating around the state capitol, from lawmakers and lobbyists, was that the feds would allow more wolves into Colorado if Tina Peters was released, but Polis laughed off the notion and said he didn’t know where those rumors began.
“We look at clemency and pardon for dozens of Coloradans every year, and this year's no exception,” he said in the one-on-one interview. “And in my final year, of course, as a core value of mercy and giving people a second chance, I'd love to go bigger. And people can apply through April 3 for clemency or pardons.”
But when asked pointedly if he would “unequivocally” state he would not pardon or commute Tina Peters’ sentence, the governor would not.
“No, I've said her sentence looks long, and that's longer than usual. And somewhat unusual in that regard. And there's dozens of people that we're looking at,” he said in response to the question. “Why did they get sentenced to that? What did they do? Are they a first time offender? Are they habitual? These are the kinds of things I look at in any case, and no particular inmate is different in that regard.”
Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison for orchestrating a data breach of election equipment, insisting on spreading election conspiracy theories and lies that the 2020 election was stolen.
The Trump ticket beat Biden/Harris by 28 points in Mesa County that year. She's served over a year of the sentence thus far.
President Trump has inserted himself into the conversation, posting on his social media platform on Dec. 31, calling Polis a “scumbag governor” and writing “FREE TINA PETERS!”
Trump also referenced Polis and the prosecuting district attorney, whom he called a “disgusting ‘REPUBLICAN’,” wrote “I wish them only the worst. May they rot in Hell.”
Trump also issued a pardon for Peters, but a federal pardon for a state crime is outside his bounds of power.
In response to Trump’s rhetoric and Governor Polis’ indications he’s considering clemency, Attorney General Phil Weiser, who’s running for the Democratic nomination for this year’s gubernatorial race, said he wouldn’t release her.
“There was a trial. There was a conviction by a jury. There's an appeal to the state courts. All that is happening under the rule of law,” said Weiser in a December interview with KUSA, the Denver NBC affiliate. “This president doesn't respect the rule of law, but he doesn't have authority to undermine how we operate our judicial system here in Colorado.”
Similarly, Secretary of State Jena Griswold and the Colorado County Clerks Association sent a joint letter last week to Governor Polis asking that he not pardon or commute the sentence of Tina Peters.
Trump’s rhetoric also pushed Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who is also seeking to succeed Polis as the state’s next governor, to claim Trump is “clearly” targeting Colorado for not releasing Peters from prison.
The president recently denied disaster relief for the Elk and Lee wildfires last year along with support for the October flooding in southwest Colorado. He also issued his first veto of his second term on a bipartisan bill to bring clean water to the Arkansas Valley.
“On the Arkansas Valley conduit, clearly it was in response to his anger about Tina Peters,” said Bennet in a Tuesday interview. “And now we got to a place where Lauren Boebert and I got it. She got it through the House unanimously. I got it through the Senate unanimously. You can almost get nothing through those places unanimously. And Donald Trump, just out of anger, took it away from 50,000 people who have spent generations just trying to have clean drinking water for their families.”
Senator Bennet called Trump’s recent targeting of Colorado, in regards to the Peters fight, a “freaking outrage.”
Bennet said he wouldn’t pardon Peters and hoped Polis wouldn’t either.
“I think that that's his decision to make. He's the governor, but since you asked me, I wouldn't. That's the advice that I've given him,” said Bennet. “I just think that it is in this case, and the facts as I understand them, it would be sort of submitting to Donald Trump's lawlessness. And I think that breeds lawlessness, and people believe that you don't have to follow the rule of law. That even in a case where somebody has been convicted by a jury of their peers, as Tina has been, and I think she should have to serve her sentence just like anybody else.”
Polis said Trump is attempting to disregard the United States system of federalism and that Trump’s targeting of Colorado to free Peters is a “corrupt outcome” using “brute force.”
News5 reached out to multiple Republican candidates for governor, including Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell, State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, and former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez (who recently left the GOP as an independent). None of their campaigns responded.
Victor Marx, a Republican based in Colorado Springs running for governor, posted on social media that he’d release Tina Peters on day one if he were to be elected and she is still behind bars.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
State proposes cutting paid caregiving hours for Colorado families
Some of those Medicaid cuts are already moving forward with last year's executive order from the governor. Families with children who need 24-7 care tell News5 they are feeling frustrated.
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