Colorado's Democrat governor commutes sentence of official who tried to help overturn 2020 election

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 06:01, 16 May 2026 | Updated: 06:01, 16 May 2026 Colorado's governor has hit out at Donald Trump as he finally agreed to commute the sentence of a former Maga lawmaker who was convicted of trying to help overturn the 2020 election. Jared Polis claimed Trump had made it harder for him to make a decision about the case of Tina Peters. The 70-year-old is a former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in a scheme to make a copy of her county's election computer system. When challenged by CNN on Friday night about whether Trump's constant advocacy in Peters' favor affected his decision, he attacked the president.  '[His statements' certainly made it a lot harder. President Trump tends to muck up everything he gets involved with, he does not understand this case,' Polis said. The governor's comments come as his fellow Democrats have slammed him over the decision.  Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, also a Democrat, said 'it was a dark day for democracy.' 'Selling out our state's justice system for Trump is an affront to the rule of law,' she added. Colorado Governor Jared Polis (pictured right) blamed Donald Trump on making it 'harder' to commute the sentence of a former Maga lawmaker who was convicted of trying to overturn the 2020 election Polis, a Democrat, on Friday commuted the sentence of Tina Peters (pictured), a 70-year-old former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in a scheme to make a copy of her county's election computer system 'A clear message is being sent to those willing to break the law and attack democracy for the president — they will likely not face consequences for their actions,' Griswold said at a news conference. In October 2024 Peters was convicted on seven counts of engaging in a security breach through allowing unauthorized access to voting machines.  She used someone else's security badge to give an expert affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system.  Lindell is a prominent promoter of claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Donald Trump. Peters allowed Lindell to take a forensic image of the election system's hard drives after a software update in May 2021. The data shared by Peters was used by groups claiming voter fraud to call into question the integrity of Dominion voting machines after the 2020 election. In April, a Colorado appeals court upheld her conviction but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud, a decision that Polis praised. In a letter to Peters, Polis wrote that Peters was convicted of serious crimes and deserved to spend time in prison.  Trump posted around the time of the announcement on his Truth Social platform: 'FREE TINA!' In October 2024 Peters was convicted on seven counts of engaging in a security breach through allowing unauthorized access to voting machines  'However, this is an extremely unusual and lengthy sentence for a first time offender who committed nonviolent crimes,' the governor wrote. He added Peters' application 'demonstrates taking responsibility for your crimes, and a commitment to follow the law going forward.'  Trump posted around the time of the announcement on his Truth Social platform: 'FREE TINA!'  Peters is set to be released on June 1. After the commutation, Peters issued a statement through her attorney thanking Polis and apologizing. 'Five years ago I misled the Secretary of State when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment. That was wrong,' Peters said.  'I have learned and grown during my time in prison and going forward I will make sure that my actions always follow the law, and I will avoid the mistakes of the past.' She also condemned threats and violence against voters, county clerks and election workers. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (pictured), also a Democrat, said 'it was a dark day for democracy' and 'selling out our state's justice system for Trump is an affront to the rule of law' After the commutation, Peters issued a statement through her attorney thanking Polis and apologizing Peters was convicted of state, not federal, crimes, which put her beyond the reach of Trump's pardon power that he used to free those convicted of crimes for the January 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol.  But the president still championed her cause. Trump first praised Peters for her efforts after meeting her in 2022 at Mar-a-Lago, describing her as a 'rock star.'  He has lambasted both Polis, calling him a 'Scumbag Governor,' and the Republican district attorney who prosecuted her, Daniel Rubinstein, for keeping Peters in prison.  Trump has referred to Peters, as 'elderly' and 'sick.' Earlier this year, Trump uninvited Polis from a White House meeting with governors over the case.  The president said Colorado was 'suffering a big price' for refusing to release her.  His administration has been choking off funds, ending federal programs and denying disaster aid. It also announced the dismantling of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocated the US Space Command to Alabama. Her lawyers have said her health has declined in prison.  In contrast to some other Democratic governors, Polis, who prides himself on being a political iconoclast, has taken a sometimes accommodating stance toward Trump In January, Peters was involved in a scuffle with another inmate but was found not guilty of assault after a prison disciplinary hearing, Colorado Department of Corrections spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia said  Peters, who had part of her right lung removed in 2017, started coughing frequently after the prison's heating system was turned on for the winter and has had trouble sleeping on her mattress because of chronic pain from fibromyalgia, her lawyers said. In January, Peters was involved in a scuffle with another inmate but was found not guilty of assault after a prison disciplinary hearing, Colorado Department of Corrections spokesperson Alondra Gonzalez-Garcia said.  Peters was found guilty of being in a location without authorization. The federal Bureau of Prisons tried but failed to get Peters moved to a federal prison.  But in January, Polis said he was considering granting clemency for Peters, calling her sentence 'unusual and harsh' for a first-time, nonviolent offender.  In March he repeated those arguments in a lengthy post on the social media platform X. Polis defended his decision on Friday in a social media post. 'I'll always stand for free speech and to make sure that we live in a country that no matter what your viewpoints are, you are not incarcerated longer because of them,' Polis said. In contrast to some other Democratic governors, Polis, who prides himself on being a political iconoclast, has taken a sometimes accommodating stance toward Trump.  While he criticized Trump's stance on tariffs and immigration, Polis praised earlier moves by the president such as the Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire Elon Musk, and the nomination of vaccine critic Robert F Kennedy, Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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