Trump's Justice Department Will Review Colorado's Tina Peters Case for Political Bias

Donald Trump might come to Tina Peters's rescue after all.

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to review Peters's prosecution by the Colorado courts after the former Mesa County clerk was sentenced to nine years behind bars for helping an unauthorized person make copies of sensitive county voting documents. The election-tampering scheme was inspired by repeatedly discredited claims that Trump, rather than Joe Biden, won the 2020 election.

Peters is challenging her conviction in U.S. District Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals. On Monday, March 3, Yaakov Roth of the Justice Department's civil division filed a court brief encouraging the judges to consider Peters's appeal in a "prompt and careful" manner and noting that the department will review the case "for abuses of the criminal justice process."

"In particular, whether the case was 'oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental,'" wrote Roth, the division's acting assistant attorney general, quoting Trump’s executive order for "Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government."

In the court 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)."

Roth began working for the Justice Department just last week, coming from the Trump-aligned Jones Day law firm.

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 the legal proceedings. Nevertheless, the New York Times called the department's court filing "a remarkable intervention."

Dan Rubinstein, the Republican Mesa County district attorney who prosecuted Peters, told the Times that 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.”

Shad Murib, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, agrees with Rubinstein.

"A jury of her peers from a conservative jurisdiction found Tina Peters guilty," Murib says. "Nothing about her case was political: She broke the law because she tampered with voting machines in an effort to help the twice-impeached Donald Trump, plain and simple, and actions have consequences. It'd be nice if the Trump White House would spend even a little bit of their workday trying to cut the cost of living instead of working overtime to get their criminal buddies out of jail."

Peters's crimes have been a contentious issue for the Colorado Republican Party; state party leaders have rallied behind Peters, inspiring outrage from Republican election officials. The state GOP did not reply to a request for comment regarding the Justice Department's review of Peters's prosecution.

This development comes as 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 granted clemency to 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.

Last month, the national election-denying group United Sovereign Americans pleaded for Polis to do so, declaring February 8 "Free Tina Peters Day." A petition drive led by failed Colorado gubernatorial candidate Danielle Neuschwanger also sought clemency for Peters, arguing that Trump set "a legal precedent of releasing political prisoners" by pardoning the January 6 rioters; it has gained few signatures.

A spokesperson for Polis's office says Peters had not applied for a pardon as of March 4.

"The governor takes clemency seriously and understands the weighty responsibility that comes with it," the spokesperson continues, "and he evaluates each clemency application carefully and weighs individual circumstances."