Hold onto your hats, folks—President Donald Trump has just dropped a bombshell by granting a “full pardon” to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk convicted for her role in challenging the 2020 election results.
According to the Washington Examiner, in a stunning move, Trump has stepped in to support Peters, who was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison and six months in county jail for tampering with voting equipment, though the legal weight of his pardon remains murky at best.
Let’s rewind to the beginning: Peters, once a county clerk in Colorado, found herself in hot water after her actions to dispute the 2020 election led to a 2024 conviction on state charges.
Fast forward to today, and Trump’s decision to issue a pardon has sent shockwaves through the political landscape, with many questioning whether a presidential pardon can even touch a state-level conviction.
Legal scholars note that, traditionally, presidential pardons apply only to federal charges, casting serious doubt on whether this action will have any real impact on Peters’ imprisonment or ongoing appeal in Colorado courts.
Still, Trump’s base sees this as a stand against what they view as a weaponized justice system targeting those who dare to question election integrity.
Colorado Democrats, unsurprisingly, aren’t buying Trump’s gesture, slamming it as an overreach with no legal standing in state matters. Gov. Jared Polis didn’t mince words, stating, “No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions.”
That’s a polite way of saying, “Nice try, but no dice,” as Polis and others stand firm that this is a matter for the Colorado courts to hash out.
Adding fuel to the fire, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told Axios, “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.”
Weiser’s got a point—there’s no historical playbook for this, making Trump’s pardon more of a symbolic middle finger to the progressive agenda than a get-out-of-jail-free card for Peters.
Yet, for Trump’s supporters, this is less about legal nitty-gritty and more about signaling that the fight for election transparency won’t be silenced by state-level prosecutions.
As Peters’ appeal works its way through the Colorado judicial system, the question remains: will Trump’s pardon hold any water, or is it just a headline-grabbing stunt?
One thing is clear—Colorado Democrats aren’t backing down, with Sen. Michael Bennet taking to X to declare that Peters belongs in prison and Trump’s actions won’t change that reality.
For now, Tina Peters sits behind bars, a convicted figure in a saga that’s far from over, while the clash between federal gestures and state authority continues to unfold in a way that’s as American as apple pie and political gridlock.