Tina Peters asks Colorado appeals court to recognize Trump's pardon, release her from prison

Source: AP

Updated 5:36 PM EST, December 24, 2025


DENVER (AP) — Former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters is asking the state appeals court to recognize President Donald Trump’s pardon of her state convictions as valid. In a motion Tuesday, Peters’ lawyers said the Colorado appeals court no longer has jurisdiction over her case because of a Dec. 5 pardon issued by Trump. They also asked the court to release her from prison because of the pardon.

Peters, the former Mesa County, Colorado clerk, was convicted of state crimes there for orchestrating a data breach scheme driven by false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race. Trump’s pardon power does not extend to state crimes.

In the court filing, Peters’ lawyers argued that President George Washington issued pardons to people convicted of both state and federal crimes in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1795. They urged the state appeals court to issue a ruling quickly. The court is set to hear arguments from lawyers in Peters’ appeal of her conviction on Jan. 14.

The appeals court ruled Wednesday that lawyers from the state attorney general’s office, which is defending the conviction, could respond to Peters’ arguments by Jan. 8.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-pardon-tina-peters-colorado-appeal-28b86c413ae9d112931aaf3fb5a1abd3