Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday announced he is commuting the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was facing more than eight years in state prison for allowing unauthorized access to voting machines following the 2020 presidential election.
Polis' decision — which was swiftly condemned by other Colorado Democrats — follows months of pressure from President Trump to release Peters, who has promoted Mr. Trump's false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. The president had threatened "harsh measures" if Colorado did not free Peters from prison.
The governor told CBS News Colorado's Karen Morfitt in an interview he decided to commute Peters' sentence because her long prison term was "very unusual for a first-time nonviolent offender." Polis also said he agreed with an appellate court ruling last month that found the judge who sentenced Peters had put too much weight on her beliefs about election fraud, which are a form of protected speech.
"She has crazy viewpoints, conspiratorial viewpoints that are not accurate, not true. But that is not a crime in our country or in our state," Polis said, adding that Peters apologized and "I think as a state, we need to move past this."
Tina Peters, left, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis
Mesa County Sheriff's Office / Getty Images
Peters apologized in a statement Friday, writing that she "made mistakes" and "misled the Secretary of State when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment."
"That was wrong," she said. "I have learned and grown during my time in prison and going forward I will make sure that my actions always follow the law, and I will avoid the mistakes of the past."
Peters was convicted last summer on seven counts, including attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and official misconduct.
Prosecutors alleged that in 2021, Peters and others "devised and executed a deceptive scheme" to cause an unauthorized person to access Mesa County voting machines. Images from the county's voting equipment later showed up online. Prosecutors said that Peters — who was aligned with national figures who have falsely claimed that voting machines were rigged in 2020 — became "fixated" on alleged voting problems.
At a sentencing hearing late last year, Judge Matthew Barrett called Peters a "charlatan" and "as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen." He sentenced her to nine years behind bars, including time in state prison and county jail.
An appeals court upheld Peters' conviction last month but said she needed to be resentenced, concluding that her punishment was based in part on protected speech.
Mr. Trump has long pushed for Peters' release and attacked Polis for not taking action sooner. He granted a pardon to Peters last year, even though the president's pardoning power does not extend to state crimes.
Polis has said for months that he would consider granting clemency to Peters and viewed her sentence as harsh, but he gave no indication about a timeline for such an action. On Friday afternoon, the governor made the announcement by sending out a news release stating he is granting pardons and commutations to 44 people, including Peters.
In a letter, Polis said he would commute Peters' sentence to four years and four-and-a-half months, including time served. Peters will be granted parole effective on June 1, according to Polis. The decision does not wipe away her conviction.
Mr. Trump celebrated the commutation on Friday, writing on Truth Social: "FREE TINA!"
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold quickly condemned the decision to grant clemency, calling it a "gross injustice to our elections, election workers and democracy with far reaching consequences."
Democratic Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper both spoke out about the commutation.
"She broke the law, undermined our elections, and was convicted by a jury of her peers," said Bennet, who is running to replace Polis as governor.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, called the decision "mind-boggling and wrong as a matter of basic justice."
"Caving in to this president will only lead to more abuse from the bullying Trump administration. Today is a sad day for Colorado and the rule of law," he said in a statement.
Polis told CBS News Colorado he did not speak to Mr. Trump about the commutation. He pushed back on allegations that he is bending to political pressure from the president, arguing that granting clemency was the right thing to do.
"I completely disagree with her beliefs," he said. "But even if you believe the world is flat, you shouldn't get a harder sentence because of that. It needs to be done in a consistent and fair way that everyone can have confidence in, regardless of what you believe."
