Colorado AG Accuses Feds of "Naked, Political Attempt to Threaten" Court in Tina Peters Case

Attorney General Phil Weiser is pushing back against the U.S. Department of Justice after the federal agency said it will review Colorado's prosecution of Tina Peters for political bias.

Former Mesa County clerk Peters was sentenced to nine years behind bars in October for helping an unauthorized person make copies of sensitive county voting documents. The election-tampering scheme was inspired by repeatedly discredited claims that Donald Trump, rather than Joe Biden, won the 2020 election.

As Peters challenges her conviction, Yaakov Roth of the Justice Department's civil division filed a court brief on March 3, encouraging the judges to consider Peters's appeal in a "prompt and careful" manner. Roth said the department will review the case "for abuses of the criminal justice process" regarding whether the case was "oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice."

Weiser filed a response on Tuesday, March 11, accusing the department of political bias itself.

"What appears 'politically motivated' — and a grotesque attempt to weaponize the rule of law — is the very statement the United States has filed," Weiser wrote. "It appears the United States’ true interest in this matter is to advocate for a party who has very publicly promoted the 2020 election conspiracy theories of the sitting President, not to address the relevant issue before this Court."

Weiser requested that the court reject the Justice Department's statement of interest, calling it "a naked, political attempt to threaten or intimidate" the judges or the attorneys who prosecuted Peters.

In the Justice Department's brief, Roth called Peters's sentence "exceptionally lengthy." He also noted Peters's rejected request to be released on bail as she awaits the appeal process, questioning whether the denial was "arbitrary or unreasonable."

"Reasonable concerns have been raised about various aspects of Ms. Peters’ case," Roth wrote. "The United States respectfully submits that the concerns raised in the Application warrant — at the very least — prompt and careful consideration by this Court (and, at the appropriate time, the Colorado appellate courts)."

Weiser said the department provided no facts to support its "baseless allegations" regarding concerns about Peters's prosecution or any political motivation.
Dan Rubinstein, the Republican Mesa County district attorney who prosecuted Peters, says the Justice Department had not previously expressed any concern about the case. In a statement issued on March 4, Rubinstein maintains that “nothing about the prosecution of Ms. Peters was politically motivated."

"In one of the most conservative jurisdictions in Colorado, the same voters who elected Ms. Peters also elected the Republican district attorney who handled the prosecution, and the all-Republican board of county commissioners who unanimously requested the prosecution of Ms. Peters on behalf of the citizens she victimized," Rubinstein says. "Ms. Peters was indicted by a grand jury of her peers, and convicted at trial by the jury of her peers that she selected."

Weiser argues that there is no "legitimate basis" for the department's interest in the case besides "a political concern wholly inappropriate in this judicial proceeding."

The Justice Department does not have the power to directly overturn a state conviction, and it is unclear how the department's review would influence future legal proceedings.

"The United States’ suggestion that there is a uniquely important interest in advocating for this individual — because of her political views — is unprecedented, highly problematic, and a threat to the rule of law," Weiser wrote. "It articulates no reason to distinguish this prosecution, except the fact that Ms. Peters has aligned herself with the sitting President’s conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 presidential election."

This development comes after Trump has already intervened in the legal proceedings against those who broke the law to try to keep him in power after Biden won the 2020 presidential election. On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned everyone charged federally in connection with the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

However, presidents can only grant pardons for federal offenses. Peters was convicted on state charges, so only Colorado Governor Jared Polis can pardon her. A spokesperson for Polis's office says that Peters had not applied for a pardon as of March 4.

Weiser is running to succeed term-limited Polis as governor in the 2026 election.