President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has granted a full pardon to Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk serving a nine-year prison sentence for election-related crimes. The declaration has sparked an immediate and forceful rebuke from Colorado officials, who assert the President has no constitutional authority to pardon state crimes.
The Announcement and Immediate Rejection
President Trump announced the pardon in a post on Truth Social, framing Peters as a victim of political persecution. “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,” Trump wrote. He added that Peters was imprisoned for the “crime” of demanding honest elections.
Colorado’s state leaders responded within hours, stating the pardon has no legal force. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold stated, “Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her. His assault is not just on our democracy, but on states’ rights and the American constitution”.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser was more detailed in his rejection, emphasizing a core constitutional principle. “One of the most basic principles of our constitution is that states have independent sovereignty and manage our own criminal justice systems without interference from the federal government,” Weiser said. He concluded that the presidential pardon of a state convict “has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up”.
The Legal Limitation of Presidential Pardon Power
The clash centers on a well-established limit of presidential power. The U.S. Constitution grants the president the “Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States,” which is almost universally understood to apply only to federal crimes.
Tina Peters was tried, convicted, and sentenced under Colorado state law. Therefore, legal experts and officials agree that only Colorado Governor Jared Polis has the power to pardon her or commute her sentence. Governor Polis has given no indication he plans to do so.
Despite this, Peters’ attorney, Peter Ticktin, has argued in a letter that the president’s pardon power could theoretically extend to state crimes, while acknowledging this argument “has never been raised in any court”.
Who is Tina Peters and What Was Her Crime?
Tina Peters is the former Republican clerk of Mesa County, Colorado. She was convicted in 2024 on seven state charges, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.
Her conviction stemmed from a 2021 scheme where she allowed an unauthorized person access to the county’s voting machine equipment. Prosecutors alleged Peters orchestrated a “deceptive scheme” to copy hard drives from voting machines during a software update. The copied data later appeared online, promoted by individuals alleging the 2020 election was fraudulent. The unauthorized individual was affiliated with Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and a prominent promoter of election fraud claims.
At her sentencing, the state judge labeled Peters a “charlatan” and noted she was “as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen”. Peters has maintained her innocence, claiming she never acted with malice to break the law.
Her legal avenues for release are narrowing. Just this week, a federal magistrate judge denied Peters’ request to be released from prison while she appeals her conviction. The Federal Bureau of Prisons had previously requested her transfer to federal custody, but Colorado officials denied that request.
A Pattern of Symbolic Pardons
President Trump’s pardon of Peters is not an isolated action but part of a broader pattern. Since re-entering office in January 2025, he has issued a series of pardons for allies and supporters.
Last month, Trump issued similar symbolic pardons for dozens of people charged in state courts for efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Prominent recipients included his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former chief of staff Mark Meadows. On his first day back in office, he also granted clemency to approximately 1,500 individuals convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Analysts observe that Trump uses the pardon power to “score political points, protect his family, friends and supporters, and return favours”.
Broader Context and Implications
The pardon intensifies a ongoing political conflict over election legitimacy and the limits of federal power.
Peters has become a cause célèbre within the election conspiracy movement, with many of Trump’s supporters campaigning for her release. Trump himself had warned in August that he would take “harsh measures” if she was not freed.
The action tests the boundaries of state sovereignty. Colorado officials from both parties have united in their defense of the state’s judicial authority. Notably, Peters was prosecuted by an elected Republican district attorney in a Republican-leaning county. Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, underscored this point: “Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers, prosecuted by a Republican District Attorney… No President has jurisdiction over state law”.
As the legal and political standoff continues, Tina Peters remains incarcerated at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo, Colorado. The “pardoned” clerk’s future now depends not on a presidential declaration, but on the state courts of Colorado and the discretion of its governor.