Updated at 3:28 p.m. Dec. 12, 2025: The story was updated to reflect that on Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump’s signed pardon document was filed online.
President Donald Trump claimed to grant former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters a “full pardon” Thursday night — a power that constitutional law experts say he cannot wield for a person convicted of state-level crimes.
Peters, 70, is serving a nine-year sentence in state prison in Pueblo for felonies related to providing unauthorized access to voting equipment when she was the elected clerk and recorder of Mesa County. She had worked with prominent election deniers in an attempt to prove discredited claims that voting machines were manipulated, and she’s been a prominent supporter of Trump’s debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election.
On Thursday evening, Trump that "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."
"Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the 'crime' of demanding Honest Elections," Trump continued. "Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!"
Trump, however, can grant pardons only for federal crimes -- not those committed against the state, as Peters was convicted of.
"Trump has the constitutional power to pardon people for crimes against the United States," Jessica Smith, a Denver-based attorney with the firm Holland and Hart, said of Trump's post. "Peters was convicted of crimes against Colorado. To suggest he can pardon for state crimes would upend fundamental principles of federalism."
An attorney for Peters could not be reached for comment on the president's action.
A signed by Trump was posted on on Friday afternoon. It says simply that Trump grants "a full and unconditional pardon" to Peters "for those offenses she has or may have committed or taken part in related to election integrity and security during the period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021."
An attempted pardon by Trump won't have any bearing on Peters' incarceration at the La Vista Correctional Facility. But it could be used by Peters' attorneys as the basis for further filings in state or federal court, where their attempts to free her have been rejected by judges so far.
In a statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he would let the matter play out in court -- while emphasizing that presidents do not have jurisdiction over state law. Only the governor would have the power to pardon Peters for state convictions.
“Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers, prosecuted by a Republican District Attorney and in a Republican county of Colorado, and found guilty of violating Colorado state laws including criminal impersonation," Polis, a Democrat, said in the statement. "... This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders.”
Other reactions to president's post
Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement that state sovereignty and the ability for states to manage their own criminal justice systems are "the most basic principles of our constitution."
"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," said Weiser, a Democrat who is running for governor.
Peters has been treated as a sort of martyr by fellow election conspiracy theorists, including Trump, who's a fellow Republican. Trump, since his return to office in January, has repeatedly threatened, insulted and otherwise sought to cajole Polis to give Peters leniency.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert on the social platform X: "FREE TINA!"
On Thursday, Joe Oltmann, a far-right podcaster based in Colorado who's , applauded Trump's attempted pardon in , writing: "Breaking: Standoff is on. President Trump issues a pardon for Tina Peters. Arrest them all."
Doug Spencer, a constitutional law professor at the University of Colorado, echoed Smith in reacting to Trump's attempted pardon -- and warned that his post may send a dangerous message. He called it "sad that our president hasn't read or doesn't understand a basic tenet of the U.S. Constitution."
"This post carries no legal weight," Spencer said. "It is a political stunt. And a dangerous one -- because it may lead others to believe that he has some power over her case, and that those individuals involved in her case in Colorado have acted inappropriately or illegally, for which there is absolutely no evidence."
Matt Crane, the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said Peters failed to uphold election-integrity standards that “are among the toughest in the nation.”
“Itap painful to see someone we once worked with make choices that undermined the responsibilities of her office, but those choices were hers,” he said. “Her conviction is a reminder that no one is above the law. Anyone who interferes with or attempts to corrupt our election systems will be held accountable. Thatap how we protect our elections and our democracy.”
Trump's past attempts at pressure
This fall, the Trump administration had sought to move Peters to a federal prison, where his administration would have more say about her conditions. But state corrections officials have rejected that request, considering it improper.
Earlier this year, at Trump's urging, the Department of Justice intervened in Peters' federal court case challenging her imprisonment and said it would review the state's prosecution of her for "abuses of the criminal justice process."
On Monday, a federal judge ruled that his court didn't have the authority to release Peters while she appeals her 2024 conviction through the state courts.
Peters' legal team has argued that she should be released because she is ill, because her mother is in the hospital and because she was being held in solitary confinement.
In a statement issued after Trump posted about the pardon, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat who is in charge of state elections, said: “Tina 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.”
In August 2024, a Mesa County jury found Peters guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state.
She had allowed a man affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell, a prominent election denier himself, to so he could access the Mesa County election system. She was then deceptive about that person's identity.
“A jury of her peers in Mesa County convicted her on multiple felony charges stemming from the breach and tampering of election systems,” Crane said. “Colorado’s laws worked, and accountability was delivered.”
In a separate case this past summer, Lindell was found liable for defamation for calling a former Dominion Voting Systems executive "treasonous" while attacking the validity of the 2020 election.
At Peters' sentencing last year, Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett slammed her for a lack of remorse for her crimes against the public trust and her defiance in the face of evidence that the elections were secure and valid.
“I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could," Barrett said in handing down her sentence. "You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen. You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan.”
