Trump Says He Pardoned Tina Peters — Raising Constitutional Clash Over State Convictions

Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he has granted a pardon to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who is serving a nine-year state prison sentence for allowing unauthorized access to county voting machines. The announcement, posted on Truth Social, escalates a constitutional dispute over whether a presidential pardon can apply to state criminal convictions.

What Happened

Mr. Trump wrote that "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," and said Peters is "sitting in a Colorado prison for the 'crime' of demanding Honest Elections." Peters was convicted in Colorado state court last year on seven counts, including multiple counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. She was sentenced in October 2024 to a term totaling nine years.

Allegations and Trial

Prosecutors say that in 2021 Peters and others "devised and executed a deceptive scheme" to enable an unauthorized person to access Mesa County voting machines; images from the county's voting equipment later appeared online. Prosecutors contend Peters became "fixated" on alleged problems with ballots and equipment and aligned with national figures who promoted unproven claims that the 2020 election was rigged. Peters has denied criminal intent and told the court before sentencing that she had "never done anything with malice to break the law." At sentencing, Judge Matthew Barrett described her as a "charlatan" and said she was "as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen."

Legal And Constitutional Questions

The president's constitutional pardon power expressly covers "Offences against the United States," which is widely understood to mean federal crimes. Colorado officials — including Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Attorney General Phil Weiser — said a presidential pardon cannot override state convictions and warned that Mr. Trump's move undermines states' rights and constitutional boundaries.

"Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers for state crimes in a state Court. Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her," Secretary of State Jena Griswold said. Attorney General Weiser added that the idea a president could pardon a state conviction "has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up."

Defense Theory And Federal Involvement

Peters' attorney, Peter Ticktin, has advanced a novel legal theory in a recent letter arguing the president could have pardon authority in this case; Ticktin acknowledged that the issue "has never been raised in any court." Separately, the Federal Bureau of Prisons reportedly asked Colorado last month to transfer Peters to federal custody, a request that drew pushback from state officials and calls for Governor Jared Polis to refuse the transfer. This week a federal magistrate judge denied Peters' request to be released while she appeals her conviction.

Broader Context

Mr. Trump has intervened in multiple cases involving allies who promote his unproven claims about the 2020 election. He previously offered clemency options to some convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and granted pardons last month to dozens of people accused in state cases tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 results, including alternate electors and his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

CBS News and other outlets have reached out to the White House and Peters' lawyer for comment. Legal scholars say the dispute is likely to result in litigation that will test long-standing limits on the presidential pardon power and the balance between federal and state sovereignty.