President Donald Trump issued a symbolic pardon to Tina Peters on Thursday, but he alone will not release the former Colorado elections director who was convicted under state laws of masterminding a data breach scheme prompted by false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump’s pardon power does not extend to state crimes like those committed by Peters convicted Last year and He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
“Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of Tina Peters, a patriot who simply wanted to make sure our elections were fair and impartial,” Trump said in a social media post in which he repeated his false claims of election fraud.
Peters, a former Mesa County employee, was convicted of allowing a man to abuse a security card to access the election system and deceive about that person’s identity. The man was a subordinate of the CEO of MyPillow Mike Lindella prominent promoter of False claims that voting machines were tampered with To steal election From Trump.
The pardon underscores Trump’s ongoing advocacy efforts The idea of stealing the 2020 election Of him though Courts all over the country And Trump Special Public Prosecutor At that time no evidence of fraud was found that could have affected the outcome. Comments, He narrates and Audits For elections in Battlefield countries Trump also contested his loss Joe Biden’s victory.
Trump issued A similar symbolic pardon last month To his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows Dozens of others are accused in state courts of supporting his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Peters did not apologize for what happened, and her case became a global cause célèbre Election conspiracy movement. Her allies have been pressuring Trump for months to try to release her from prison. Last month his administration attempted to transfer Peters from state prison to federal prison. State officials oppose the transfer.
A federal judge on Monday unacceptable Her attempt to be released from prison while appealing her conviction by the state.