Tina Peters’ lawyers try to convince Colorado court to overturn conviction for voting system breach

DENVER (AP) — Lawyers for former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters will try to convince a state appeals court on Wednesday to overturn her conviction in a case revolving around the 2020 presidential election as her supporters, including President Donald Trump, continue to pressure the state to set her free.

Peters, the former clerk in Mesa County, was convicted of state crimes for orchestrating a data breach of the county’s elections equipment, driven by false claims about voting machine fraud after Trump lost his reelection bid. She is serving a nine-year sentence at a prison in Pueblo after being convicted in 2024 in her home county, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump.

Trump pardoned Peters in December, but his pardon power does not extend to state crimes. Peters’ lawyers have said Trump has the authority to pardon her, arguing that President George Washington issued pardons to people convicted of both state and federal crimes during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1795.

Lawyers for the state pointed out that the governor of Pennsylvania at the time issued pardons to those who broke state laws during the unrest. Peters’ lawyers then argued that the president has a right to pardon people who committed crimes to carry out federal duties, such as preserving election information.

Prosecutors said Peters became fixated on voting problems after becoming involved with activists who had questioned the 2020 presidential election results, including Douglas Frank, an Ohio math teacher, and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell.

Peters used another person’s security badge to allow a former surfer affiliated with Lindell, Conan Hayes, to watch a software update of her county’s election management system. Prosecutors said he made copies of the system’s hard drive before and after the upgrade, and that partially redacted security passwords later turned up online, prompting an investigation. Hayes was not charged with any wrongdoing.

Peters didn’t deny the deception but said she had to do it to make sure election records weren’t erased. She claims she should not have been prosecuted because she had a duty under federal law to preserve them.

Her lawyers also say the partially redacted passwords didn’t pose a security risk and pointed out that some of the same type of voting system passwords for Colorado counties were accidentally posted on a state website until they were discovered in 2024. Prosecutors determined there was no intent to commit a crime so no charges were filed.

Lawyers for the state have argued that Peters did not need to commit crimes to protect election data because her staff had already backed up the information before the upgrade. Instead, they say the hard drive copies captured proprietary Dominion Voting Systems software.

Peters also said District Court Judge Matthew Barrett violated her First Amendment rights by punishing her with a stiff sentence of nearly a decade for making allegations about election fraud. He called her a “charlatan” and said she posed a danger to the community for spreading lies about voting and undermining the democratic process.

Last month, Peters lost an attempt in federal court to be released from prison while she appeals her conviction.

Her lawyers say she is entitled to at least a new sentencing hearing because Barrett based his sentence partially on a contempt conviction in a related case that the appeals court threw out last year. They also are asking the appeals court to recognize Trump’s pardon and immediately set Peters free.

Peters’ release has become a cause celebre in the election conspiracy movement.

Trump has lambasted both Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and the Republican district attorney who brought the charges, Dan Rubinstein, for keeping Peters in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons tried but failed to get Peters moved to a federal prison. Polis has said he is considering granting clemency for Peters, characterizing her sentence as “harsh.”

Jake Lang, who was charged with assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and was later pardoned by Trump, announced on social media last month that “January 6er Patriots” and U.S. Marshals would storm a Colorado prison to release Peters unless she is freed by the end of this month.

The post included a phone video interview with Peters from behind bars. But a message on Peters’ X account said she is not affiliated with any demonstration or event at the prison and denounced any use of force against it.