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Tina Peters Thanks Polis Accuses Democrats Of Silencing Dissent
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Approved, DENVER7, State

Tina Peters Thanks Polis Accuses Democrats Of Silencing Dissent

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 Denver7 continues to follow developments since the disgraced former Mesa County Clerk and 2020 election denier was granted clemency by the governor last week. DENVER — Former Mesa County Clerk and 2020 election denier Tina Peters spoke out for the first time since her commutation last week, accusing Colorado Democrats of an election cover-up while defending Gov. Jared Polis for reducing her nine-year prison sentence. In a post on X, Peters accused state Democrats of putting “a bullseye on a 70-year-old, nonviolent, first-time offender” and said Democrats were attacking Gov. Polis for showing mercy. “Doesn’t that make you wonder why? It should be obvious to Democrats and Republicans alike that they have something to hide,” Peters wrote. “It is so obv...
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Vance Backs Compensation For Tina Peters As Colorado Fallout Grows
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DENVER7, Approved, National

Vance Backs Compensation For Tina Peters As Colorado Fallout Grows

By Jessica Porter | Denver7 The Vice President made the comments when asked about a new $1.8 billion fund for political allies. DENVER — Vice President JD Vance held Tina Peters up as a shining example of someone who should be compensated under the Trump administration's newly created $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund.” “This innocent grandmother was going to spend 10 years in prison, completely disproportionate to any misdemeanor trespassing that I have ever seen. Was that fair, no? Is it reasonable to get some compensation for the fact that she was treated unfairly? I think the answer was yes,” Vance said during a press conference on Tuesday. Tina Peters was convicted in 2024 of allowing an unauthorized person to download software from Mesa County’s elec...
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Polis Predicts History Will Favor His Decision In Tina Peters Case
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Polis Predicts History Will Favor His Decision In Tina Peters Case

By Brian Eason and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Gov. Jared Polis made the remarks at The Colorado Sun’s annual legislative recap event at the University of Denver, only to be drowned out by a small group of protesters. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday said he doesn’t regret his decision to commute the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, despite widespread condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans, who said it will embolden election conspiracy theorists ahead of the 2026 midterms. “I think this will be remembered fondly,” Polis said at The Colorado Sun’s annual legislative recap event at the University of Denver. “The nation needs to have a reconciliation and healing. “People know I’m a man of action,” he added. “I’m a bold pers...
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Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Polis commutes Tina Peters sentence before resentencing begins

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Two weeks ago, the judge who first sent Tina Peters to prison called her resentencing “inevitable.” Friday afternoon, Gov. Jared Polis stopped it before it could happen. In an executive order issued May 15, Polis commuted Peters’ sentence to 4 years and 4.5 months and ordered her released on parole effective June 1. The Colorado Parole Board will determine the terms of her release. Peters had served 591 days of the nearly nine-year sentence imposed in October 2024 after a Mesa County jury convicted her on seven election-related counts. The Colorado Court of Appeals vacated that sentence April 2, ruling the trial court improperly considered Peters’ protected speech regarding election fraud claims during sentencing while still upholding ...
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Court Rules ICE Failed To Follow Warrantless Arrest Limits In Colorado
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Court Rules ICE Failed To Follow Warrantless Arrest Limits In Colorado

By Jessica Porter | Denver7 Agents are now barred from warrantless arrests pending mandatory training. DENVER — A federal judge has ruled that ICE violated a court order and the law by continuing to make unlawful warrantless arrests in Colorado. The ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit in October 2025 on behalf of four plaintiffs, alleging Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested and detained people without warrants to fulfill quotas set by the Trump administration. Federal law only allows ICE agents to make warrantless arrests if an individual is a flight risk. In November 2025, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction barring ICE from making warrantless arrests in Colorado. On May 12, a Colorado District Court judge ruled that...
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Judge Barrett denies Tina Peters bond, calls future appeals “frivolous”
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Judge Barrett denies Tina Peters bond, calls future appeals “frivolous”

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters will not be released from custody. Judge Matthew Barrett denied her renewed motion for bond pending appeal Tuesday morning—two days after refusing to step aside from her case. The nine-page order keeps Peters in prison while her legal team prepares to take the bond question to the Colorado Court of Appeals, the same panel that threw out her sentence earlier this month. Barrett did not hold a hearing. He found he could not conclude Peters is unlikely to flee, called her future appeals "frivolous" and said they would be pursued "for the purpose of delay." "Finality is critical to the resolution of the judicial process," Barrett wrote, "and it would be contrary to the law to ignore the reality that Defendant would use all mean...
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Judge Barrett refuses to step aside in Peters case, defends sentencing math
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Judge Barrett refuses to step aside in Peters case, defends sentencing math

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Judge Matthew Barrett denied Tina Peters' motion to disqualify him on Monday afternoon. In a 16-page order, he accepted every factual claim in the defense affidavits as true, then concluded none of them meet the legal standard for recusal. In a footnote on page 15, he answered the math the defense had used to challenge his letter to the governor. Barrett's order, filed at 3:37 p.m., clears the procedural condition he had cited as the reason he could not rule on Peters' renewed motion for bond pending appeal.  The bond question now sits on his desk under the 48-hour window Colorado Appellate Rule 9(b) sets for ruling on bond pending appeal. The defense's reply on that motion, filed late Sunday night, set up the dispute that follows—a fa...
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Peters’ defense says Barrett used facts that were never in evidence
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Peters’ defense says Barrett used facts that were never in evidence

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The state said Judge Matthew Barrett's sentencing remarks about Tina Peters were harsh words from the bench, not evidence of bias. Peters' legal team answered with a different question: how did the judge know she appeared on podcasts? Where did he get the words "snake oil" and "junk"? The state's response did not touch that argument. The judge being asked to step aside will decide it. Three filings hit the Mesa County docket between late Thursday and Friday morning. District Attorney Dan Rubinstein's office opposed Peters' motion to disqualify Barrett. Her attorneys replied by introducing a theory the state never touched—that Barrett's sentencing comments relied on an "extrajudicial source," meaning information the judge obtained from out...
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Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Before Peters is resentenced, Barrett must decide whether he keeps the case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A Mesa County judge has ordered the state’s attorneys to respond to a motion seeking his removal from the Tina Peters case, setting up a legal fight that will determine who presides over her resentencing—and who decides whether she remains in prison while that process unfolds. In an April 22 order, District Court Judge Matthew Barrett directed the state to file a response “as soon as practicable,” with a deadline of April 27. The order does not resolve the issue. It moves it forward. Now the court must decide whether Barrett can remain on the case—and nothing else in district court moves until that question is answered. 2026-0422 ACTION TAKEN_VERIFIED MOTION TO DISQUALIFY JUDGE MATTHEW BARRETT - People Respond by 4-27Download ...
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Tina Peters convictions upheld, sentence thrown out and case sent back to Mesa County court
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Tina Peters convictions upheld, sentence thrown out and case sent back to Mesa County court

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Tina Peters remains convicted—but the case that made her a national figure isn’t over. A Colorado appeals court upheld every conviction against the former Mesa County clerk Thursday, while also throwing out her sentence and ordering resentencing after finding the trial judge improperly weighed her speech about election fraud. The court laid it out over 78 pages—and shut down almost every major argument Peters brought forward. Judges rejected her claim that a presidential pardon could wipe out state convictions. They also rejected her argument that she was acting under federal authority. The convictions stayed. But the sentence didn’t. The ruling leaves Peters’ criminal convictions fully intact while reopening one of the m...
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