President Donald Trump issued a symbolic pardon for Tina Peters on Thursday, but it alone won’t free the former Colorado elections administrator who was convicted under state laws of orchestrating a data breach scheme driven by false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump’s pardon power does not extend to state crimes like those for which Peters was last year and .
鈥淒emocrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest,鈥� Trump said in a social media post that repeated his false claims of election fraud.
Peters, the former Mesa County clerk, was convicted of allowing a man to misuse a security card to access the election system and being deceptive about that person鈥檚 identity. The man was affiliated with MyPillow chief executive , a prominent promoter of to steal the from Trump.
The pardon underscores Trump鈥檚 continued efforts to promote from him even though and Trump鈥檚 at the time found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome. , and of the election in the where Trump contested his loss also affirmed .
Trump issued for his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his onetime chief of staff and dozens of others charged in state courts with backing his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Peters has been unapologetic about what happened, and her case has become a cause c茅l猫bre in the . Her allies have for months pressured Trump to try to free her from prison. His administration last month tried to have Peters moved from state to federal prison. State officials oppose the transfer.
A federal magistrate judge on Monday her bid to be released from prison while she appeals her state conviction.
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