November 22, 2025 09:14 AM UTC

Republican Clerks, DA Beg Polis To Not Let Trump Have Tina Peters

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• by: Colorado Pols

Following the request last week by the Department of Justice for the transfer of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters from state custody into the federal prison system, a move that would likely result in Peters’ swift release as the last person serving time over President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the result of the 2020 presidential election, Republican county clerks and the Republican district attorney who prosecuted Peters are taking the lead in opposing Trump administration’s request. 9NEWS reported last night:

This week, two letters addressed to Polis urge that he reject the push by President Donald Trump’s administration for Peters’ move: one from Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein (R), and another from the Colorado County Clerks Association. Both letters contend that Peters’ transfer would be harmful to the state’s judicial integrity…

“I think it’s a slap in our face if that does happen,” said Carly Koppes, the Republican Weld County Clerk. “I have had multiple threats against myself. I’ve had to endure a lot of harassment out in the public throughout the whole entire state because I have decided to stand up and say what is right.”

Pam Bacon, the Republican Clerk in Logan County, echoed those sentiments.

“We all take that oath very seriously, and I personally feel that Tina broke her oath of office and compromised the security and integrity of one of the greatest rights as an American citizen,” Bacon said. [Pols emphasis]

The Grand Junction Sentinel’s Nathan Deal reports on the letter from Mesa County DA Dan Rubinstein:

“As has been reported on extensively, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has requested that Colorado Department of Corrections Inmate Tina Peters, Case Number 2022CR371, be transferred from state custody to that of the federal government. We ask that you deny this request,” the letter reads, going on to emphasize that Peters was prosecuted by an “elected Republican official” (Rubinstein) with “the help and support of an office led by an elected Democratic official” (Weiser) through a criminal process “overseen by the state’s judiciary…”

“The Bureau of Prison’s request to transfer Ms. Peters is a transparent attempt to bypass the President’s inability to pardon Ms. Peters or commute her sentence. At best, by seeking her transfer to federal custody, the federal government is attempting to circumvent Colorado’s sovereignty to administer and enforce its own laws and hold accountable those who break them,” the letter continues.

“Shifting her custody to the federal government is an attempt to bypass our judicial system — all to offer a politically connected inmate the comforts of an easier sentence. This is not mere speculation or conjecture, as one need only to review recent reports on other politically connected criminals presently receiving ‘preferential treatment’ in federal facilities during their sentences…”

“At worst, granting this custody request could aid the unauthorized or illegal release of a convicted felon by the federal government — an outcome that would not be surprising given the many statements made by federal officials and the President calling for Ms. Peters’ release,” the letter reads.

Conservative media and influencers are ramping up the hype about Peters to their audiences, which is creating a widespread clamor among MAGA Republicans for Peters’ release being directed primarily at Colorado Gov. Jared Polis–who alone has the power to approve or deny the DOJ’s request to transfer Peters out of state custody. When previously asked whether he could consider pardoning Peters or commuting her sentence under pressure from the Trump administration, Polis flatly rejected the idea, saying “justice is not for sale.”

The best response that Colorado has to the low-information hordes flooding social media and phone lines to demand Peters’ freedom are Republican county clerks, who have been on the front lines of combating Trump’s election misinformation from the moment Trump first decided that he would only accept the outcome of elections he won. Obviously we don’t know how Trump’s baseless attacks on Colorado’s mail ballot system affected the personal votes of these Republican clerks, but they have been consistent along with many other local Republicans like former Rep. Ken Buck in rejecting MAGA election conspiracy theories–and condemning Tina Peters’ misconduct in her failed attempt to validate them.

The clerks contend that Peters’ actions have made their own jobs harder by baselessly undermining public confidence in Colorado elections, and that her official misconduct to defeat security protocols and allow unauthorized access to election equipment requires the punishment Peters received in order to uphold the integrity of her sworn office. At the same time, now that Trump has returned to power and pardoned the violent insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol because they believed what Tina Peters believed, Peters’ ongoing incarceration stands out incongruously against the lawless “new normal.” Should our state bear the brunt of Trump’s threatened “very harsh measures” indefinitely? There are both moral and realpolitik considerations for Gov. Polis to weigh, and we understand that. But it’s not the first time our small state has been asked to carry an outsize national responsibility.

As for Tina Peters? This has always been about more than Tina Peters, and that suited her fine until it didn’t. It was true when she was being feted at Mar-a-Lago, and it’s true while she sits in prison today. Peters’ misconduct cannot be normalized, and the “Big Lie” that motivated her crimes cannot be allowed to supplant the historical record.

For the moment, once again Colorado is alone, and also united with responsible Republicans and Democratic leaders standing together, in holding the line against a movement that threatens the institution that above all others makes America great. Democracy itself. There is a compelling argument that our state has not just the right but the solemn obligation to not give in to Trump’s attempts to rewrite history in his favor.