Trump announces pardon for Colorado clerk: 'Simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair'

Donald Trump

Trump announces pardon for Colorado clerk: 'Simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair'

Tina Peters, 70, was serving nine-year sentence for breaching Mesa County voting systems

Louis Casiano Fox News

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December 11, 2025 8:44pm EST

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A former Colorado clerk who was convicted of attempting to breach voting systems in hopes of proving President Donald Trump’s claims of election malfeasance in 2020 will receive a pardon.

Trump announced his pardon for Tina Peters on Truth Social, saying she has been sitting in prison for the "crime" of demanding honest elections.

"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," he wrote. "Today I am granting Tina a full pardon for her attempts to expose voter fraud in the rigged 2020 presidential election!"

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Mesa County Clerk and Colorado Republican candidate for secretary of state Tina Peters will receive a pardon from President Donald Trump. Peters is serving a nine-year sentence after a state jury convicted her of participating in a scheme to breach the Mesa County voting systems. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, a federal judge refused to release Peters, 70, from prison.

She has been serving a nine-year sentence after a state jury convicted her of participating in a scheme to breach the Mesa County voting systems. She filed a lawsuit seeking her release earlier this year, arguing that her free speech rights had been violated, but Judge Scott Varholak rejected the motion on Monday.

"Ms. Peters raises important constitutional questions concerning whether the trial court improperly punished her more severely because of her protected First Amendment speech," Varholak wrote. "But because this question remains pending before Colorado courts, this Court must abstain from answering that question until after the Colorado courts have decided the issue."

Peter Ticktin, Peters' attorney, said he was formally notified of the pardon Thursday.

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DENVER, CO - APRIL 5 : Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters is at a rally on the west steps of Colorado State Capitol building in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Candidates for higher office continue to try to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election and integrity of Colorado elections as the 2022 election draws closer. (Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

"Tina Peters deserves justice," he wrote on X. "I have formally notified President Trump urging a presidential pardon and outlining why Tina is a necessary witness in exposing election misconduct. What happened to her was a travesty, and it’s time to set it right."

In a Dec. 7 letter to Trump, Ticktin said Peters's trial was a "travesty" where she was not permitted to raise her defense.

Trump said Peters was languishing in prison despite Democrats pushing soft-on-crime policies that allowed criminals to walk free, saying they had been "relentless" in their targeting of her.

"For years, Democrats ignored violent and vicious crime of all shapes, sizes, colors, and types. Violent criminals who should have been locked up were allowed to attack again," he wrote. "Democrats were also far too happy to let in the worst from the worst countries so they could rip off American taxpayers. Democrats only think there is one crime – not voting for them!"

"Instead of protecting Americans and their tax dollars, Democrats chose instead to prosecute anyone they can find who wanted safe and secure elections," he added.

President Trump during Oval Office meeting

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office of the White House Nov. 17, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis previously vowed not to pardon Peters as part of any deal with Trump, saying she needed to be held accountable.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Colorado Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the governor’s office.

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

Trump announces pardon for Colorado clerk: 'Simply wanted to make sure that our elections were fair'