November 25, 2025 12:40 PM UTC

Governor Polis Can't Give In to Increased Threats About Tina Peters

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• by: Colorado Pols

As we noted over the weekend, Governor Jared Polis is hearing from a bipartisan group of county clerks and prosecutors who want him to refuse requests from the Justice Department to take federal custody of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder serving a 9-year prison sentence for breaking into her own election computers in an attempt to prove fraud related to the 2020 Presidential election. Trump can’t pardon Peters because she was convinced on state crimes, so instead he is pushing the DOJ to take custody of Peters so that she can likely be transferred to a “Club Fed” minimum security prison.

Polis has not indicated a willingness to accommodate the DOJ or President Trump, who again posted about Peters on Truth Social over the weekend.

On the other hand, Polis hasn’t explicitly told a bipartisan group of county clerks — or Attorney General Phil Weiser — that he is NOT considering handing Peters over to the DOJ. This has led to some obvious concerns from the clerks.

“Our democracy is not a bargaining chip,” said Denver Clerk Paul Lopez (D-Denver) during a phone call today. Speaking about Polis, Lopez added: “We are counting on your solidarity and your silence on this matter is very loud.”

It’s important to point out, once again, that Peters was prosecuted by a Republican District Attorney and convicted by a jury of her peers in right-wing Mesa County. There was nothing unfair about what happened to Peters, who received a lengthy prison sentence in part because she refused to demonstrate any contrition for her behavior.

Anyway, if Polis needed more reason to keep Peters in a Colorado prison, he got it from right-wing lunatics recently. Podcaster, Republican donor, (briefly) candidate for governor, and Tina Peters ally Joe Oltmann is openly threatening the Governor, as Kyle Clark reports for 9News:

NEW: As President Trump increases pressure on Colorado Governor Polis to free Tina Peters, a close ally of Peters is calling for Gov Polis and Attorney General Weiser to be executed.

MAGA podcaster Joe Oltmann called for the execution of several Colorado Democrats by name.

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— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) November 24, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Here’s what Oltmann said specifically:

“I think all of these people should be tried for treason and hung. I think Jared Polis should be hung. I think Jena Griswold should be hung. I think Phil Weiser should be hung. I think they should hang by their neck until dead,” said MAGA activist and Tina Peters ally Joe Oltmann

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— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) November 24, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Oltmann even started to ponder whether or not he should organize “20,000 people to surround the house of Jared Polis.” Oltmann is walking a very fine line here between free speech and outright threats against public officials. If you replaced the words “Jared Polis” in his rant with “Donald Trump,” would the White House and DOJ be so forgiving?

As crazy as it sounds, this is not the first time that Oltmann has called for Polis to be hanged. However, Oltmann’s recent comments SHOULD have the exact opposite effect on Polis’ decision about where Peters spends the next eight years of her life.

It would be a terrible precedent for Governor Polis to appear to give in to these sort of threats by agreeing to let the DOJ whisk Peters away to some cushy correctional facility that is only a “prison” by the barest technical standards. If Polis were to fold on the Peters decision, it would be a signal for people like Oltmann that threatening public officials is an effective tool for getting a desired outcome. The consequences of such an action could be catastrophic.

Peters’ conviction and sentencing were fair and justified. Both the Republican DA from Mesa County and AG Phil Weiser are opposed to any sort of deal for Peters, so Polis has plenty of political cover to resist Trump and the DOJ.

Tina Peters is exactly where she should be, and it’s where she should stay. Laws and regulations may be mere suggestions to someone like Trump, but that can’t become the norm here in Colorado.