President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has pardoned Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who was convicted in state court on felony charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
“Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest,” wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social. “Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”
It was unclear whether Trump was asserting that he has the power to free Peters from state prison. She is serving a nine-year sentence. Presidents have the power to pardon defendants convicted in federal courts, but previous presidents have not claimed that authority in a state case.
Peters was accused of sneaking Conan Hayes, a purported computer expert, into her office in 2021 using someone else’s security badge so that he could copy Dominion Voting Systems hard drives. She was convicted of charges including attempting to influence a public servant and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.
Peters’s conviction and imprisonment in Colorado has become a major cause among some MAGA influencers and activists who have demanded for months that the administration take action to free her. Her lawyer and other supporters claim Dominion was involved in a conspiracy to rig the 2020 election.
In August, Trump threatened “harsh measures” if Peters was not released from prison. He also ordered the Justice Department to “to take all necessary action to help secure the release” of Peters earlier this year.
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Prisons wrote to Colorado officials asking that they transfer Peters to federal custody, a request that Gov. Jared Polis (D) rejected.
It was unclear Thursday what practical effect, if any, the White House thinks Trump’s action will have in Peters’s case. When reached, the White House declined to comment on the pardon. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The Constitution gives the president the power “to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.” The Supreme Court has interpreted that language as referring to federal crimes, not those charged by states.
In a lengthy letter to Trump this month, however, Peters’s lawyer, Peter Ticktin, disputed that traditional understanding.
“The issue which needs to be answered whether our founders understood or intended when they wrote that the President had the Power to Pardon offenses against the United States, if it meant the states or only the federal government. Did they mean the one central authority, or did they mean the plural, meaning the states which were united?” he wrote.
Ticktin conceded that the claim that the president could pardon people for state crimes “has never been raised in any court” but said Trump should assert that authority in Peters’s case.
Emily Davies contributed to this report.
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