US President Donald Trump said he has pardoned former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters, who is serving a nine-year sentence for allowing unauthorised access to voting machines during the 2020 presidential election.
Peters was convicted last year on seven state charges, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.
Presidential powers to pardon are widely understood to apply only to federal crimes – not those at a state level.
In a statement, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Trump’s pardon has no legal precedent and “will not hold up”.
Trump has frequently claimed, without evidence, that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden due to voter fraud.
“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 in a Truth social post announcing the pardon.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement: “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 a separate statement, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wrote: “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.”
“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,” he wrote.
Peters case has become a talking point among the election conspiracy movement, with many campaigning for her release.
Since re-entering office in January 2025, Trump has issued numerous pardons for those close to him, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
By BBC News
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