Trump claims to pardon jailed Colorado election clerk Tina Peters, but state officials contend it’s unconstitutional

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump claimed that he is granting a “full pardon” to Tina Peters, a former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who was sentenced to nine years on state-level charges for election interference during the 2020 election.

However, the president does not have jurisdiction over state charges, and Colorado officials are pushing back, contending that the president’s promise of a pardon is unconstitutional. Trump’s announcement, which he made on social media Thursday, now likely sets up a legal battle for Peters, who has been seeking a pardon from Trump.

Peters was convicted in August 2024 for giving an individual affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump ally, access to the election software she used for her county. Screenshots of the software appeared on right-wing websites that promoted false theories that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

Despite President Trump’s repeated assertions that the election was rigged, there were no proven cases of major fraud that affected the outcome.

Trump has repeatedly called for Peters to be released from her nine-year sentence, and on Thursday night said on social media that he was “granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”

“Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections,” he said.

Trump’s announcement came as the administration attempted to move Peters to federal custody in order to have more jurisdiction over her. The move was denied by the courts.

In August, the president said in a social media post that if Peters wasn’t released, he would “take harsh measures.”

Colorado officials, however, questioned Trump’s authority over Peters’ conviction and pushed back against his claims.

“One of the most basic principles of our constitution is that states have independent sovereignty and manage our own criminal justice systems without interference from the federal government,” Colorado Attorney General Phill Weiser said in a statement Thursday.

“The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up,” he added.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold added that Peters “was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes in a state Court. Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her.”

“His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states’ rights and the American Constitution,” she said in a statement.

As of Friday morning, no legal action has been taken against the Trump Administration over the president’s announcement.

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