DENVER — Just now vacation timePresident Trump released another of his dubious pardons. Or rather, make it “forgiveness.”
This one comes on behalf of former Colorado elections official serving a nine-year sentence for election fraud.
“Democrats were relentless in their attack on TINA PETERS, a patriot who simply wanted to make sure our election was fair and honest,” Trump said in a statement. usually gaseous, hypocritical post on social networks.
“Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the 'crime' of demanding a fair election,” the president continued. “Today I grant Tina a full pardon for her efforts to expose voter fraud in rigged 2020 presidential election“
In fact, Peters' crime was conspiracy to allow an unauthorized person gain access to voting equipment as part of a crazy “prove” scheme November 2020 vote was fraudulentthen she lied and covered up her illegal actions.
And she's unlikely to be released from prison anytime soon.
That's because Trump has no say in Peters' fate, given that the former Mesa County elections director was convicted on state charges. The President's power to pardon, which Trump has reached a breaking point – Applies only to federal cases. If we play pretend, then maybe Fu-Fu Snoo will be able to personally escort Peters out of prison and crown her Queen of the Rockies.
However, this does not mean that Trump's empty gesture was harmless. (With apologies to Foo-Foo and Dr. Seuss.)
Some extremists, ever ready to carry out Trump's malevolent orders, supported Peters' cause, using the same belligerent language that foreshadowed attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.. In fact, the threats came from some of the same thugs whom Trump pardoned in the US. one of the first shameless acts of his presidency.
“WE THE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO GET TINA PETERS OUT OF JAIL IN 45 DAYS,” Jake Lang, a rioter charged with attacking police with an aluminum baseball bat, said on social media. “If Tina M. Peters is not released from the La Vista Prison in Colorado into the hands of federal authorities by January 31, 2026, THE US MARSHALLS AND PATRIOTS WILL BREAK IN ON JANUARY 6TH TO FREE TINA!!”
(Capitalization and random punctuation seem to be a way of showing fervor as well as prove your MAGA bona fides.)
Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the extremist group Proud Boys, whom Trump also pardonedshared a screenshot of the president's post on a social network. “The battle,” Tarrio said, “is coming.”
Trump's sham pardon is not the first intervention on behalf of Peters.
In March, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to release her from prison, saying there were “reasonable concerns” about the length of Peters' sentence. The judge refused.
In November, the administration asked the Colorado Department of Corrections to transfer Peters to federal custody, which would presumably allow her release. No, go away.
Earlier this month, in an apparent move to ratchet up the pressure, the Justice Department announced it was opening an investigation into the state's prison system. (Peters may have been denied the special “magnetic mattress” she requested at sentencing to help with sleep problems.)
Like any child, when Trump doesn't get his way, he calls people names. On Monday, he set his sights on Colorado. Democratic Governor Jared Polis — “a weak and pathetic man” — for refusing to release Peters from state prison.
“Criminals from Venezuela have taken over part of Colorado,” Trump said, “and he was afraid to do anything, but he puts Tina in prison for nine years because she caught people cheating.”
The only true part of this statement is that Colorado really exists.
Although Trump portrays Peters as a martyr, she is anything but.
As Polis noted in response to Trump's “pardon,” she was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney and convicted by a jury of her peers—a jury, it should be noted, drawn from Mesa County citizens. This is not a liberal playpen. Voters in a harsh enclave on Western Slope of Colorado supported Trump all three times he ran for president, by margins approaching 2 to 1.
If Peters' sentence seems harsh (and it is), listen to what the judge had to say.
Peters was not motivated by principle or the search for truth, but rather, he suggested, by vanity and personal aggrandizement. She betrayed the public trust and undermined faith in a fair election to ingratiate herself with Trump and others. plundering your Big Lie.
“You have as much privilege as they do, and you have used that privilege to gain power, followers and fame,” Judge Matthew Barrett told Peters in a harrowing lecture. “You are a charlatan who used and is still using your former position in office to sell snake oil that turns out to be garbage time and time again.”
Peters is unrepentant.
In asking Trump for a pardon, her lawyer presented nine pages of outlandish statements alleging that Peters was the victim of a conspiracy that included, among other things, voting machine sellersColorado Secretary of State and the Government of Venezuela.
To her credit, Peters rejected calls for violence to secure her release.
“Tina categorically DOES and DENYES any allegations or OPERATIONS, public or private, related to a “jailbreak” or the use of force against La Vista or any other CDOC facility in any way,” the social media post reads, again with random capitalization.
Perhaps the parole board will take these sentiments into account when Peters, 70, becomes eligible for parole in January 2029, a date that coincidentally coincides with end of Trump's term.
This seems appropriate.
Until then, keep Peters locked up to serve as an example and deterrent to those who might consider emulating her by distorting the truth and attacking our democracy.
