A Colorado county clerk convicted of interference in the 2020 election will be released early after President Trump pressured the state’s Democratic governor.
JUANA VERANOS, PRESENTER:
A former Colorado election official and ally of President Donald Trump was released from prison earlier today. Tina Peters was initially sentenced to nearly nine years for actions related to tampering with voting machines after the 2020 election. Bente Birkeland covers politics for Colorado Public Radio and is here with more. Hello.
BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: Hello.
SUMMERS: So Tina Peters is the former county clerk of Mesa, Colorado. Did you tamper with the voting machines there?
BIRKELAND: At the time, she was linked to allies of President Trump who were making false claims about the election. And in 2024, Peters was convicted of several felonies and misdemeanors for giving access to her county’s voting machines to someone linked to election conspiracies. And he said it allowed this person to search for evidence of voter fraud and capture images during a secure system update.
SUMMERS: So she was convicted not of tampering, but of lying to the state about allowing an outsider to access the machines?
BIRKELAND: Yes. And Peters has always maintained that he had the legal right to look inside voting machines. Hours after his release from prison today, he was promoting his claims on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.
(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, “BANNON’S WAR ROOM”)
TINA PETERS: I know the Democrats are going to cheat. And no one is really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison for in retaliation, which was exposing the voting machines that allow votes to be reversed.
BIRKELAND: I want to point out that audits, hand recounts and lawsuits have found no evidence that these machines changed votes. And secretaries from both parties in Colorado say the state’s elections are secure and accurate.
SUMMERS: Now, didn’t President Trump try to pardon her?
BIRKELAND: Yes, he granted a presidential pardon, but it was only symbolic. He could not forgive her because her convictions were in state court, not federal court. And for a long time it didn’t seem to be on the president’s radar. But in the last year, it certainly has been. Trump has repeatedly called on the state to release her and said Peters is a political prisoner held by Democrats.
SUMMERS: Now, Democrats say President Trump pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor to release Peters, withholding a large amount of federal money from the state. Is this in any way related to his release today?
BIRKELAND: Gov. Jared Polis insists he didn’t make his decision because of Trump. He said the sentence Peters was given was too harsh. The Colorado Court of Appeals ordered a resentencing, but the commutation of Polis’ sentence went into effect before that happened. Polis said Peters is guilty, but agreed with the Colorado appeals court, which found that his election-denying beliefs may have affected the length of his sentence. Polis said his beliefs may be wild and wrong, but he has a First Amendment right to have them. And he noted that she is 70 years old and is a first-time nonviolent offender.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JARED POLIS: The question is really whether his freedom of speech – his freedom of incorrect speech and, you know, freedom of speech around election conspiracy theories – was used against him in sentencing.
SUMMERS: And how is the governor’s commutation of your sentence being received there in Colorado?
BIRKELAND: Polis received immediate backlash from state officials at all levels. And in an extraordinary move, the Colorado Democratic Party formally censured the governor. He was also suspended from speaking at Democratic Party events for the remainder of his term. They said his decision is dangerous and reckless. And I will add that the politician is term-limited and will leave office at the end of the year.
SUMMERS: Bente Birkeland covers politics for Colorado Public Radio. Thank you so much.
BIRKELAND: Thank you.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Please visit the terms of use and permissions pages of our website at www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. The transcript text can be revised to correct errors or match updates to the audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authorized record of NPR programming is the audio record.