The administration of former President Donald Trump is actively seeking to transfer Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk convicted for her role in a voting machine security breach, from state to federal custody. This development was confirmed by state authorities and a member of Peters' legal team on Friday.
The Transfer Request and Official Confirmation
The Colorado Department of Corrections announced it had received a formal letter from the federal Bureau of Prisons concerning Peters. The letter, received on Wednesday, was described as a request to move the 70-year-old former clerk to a federal prison to serve her sentence.
Alondra Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the state corrections department, confirmed the letter's existence and its purpose. While neither agency immediately provided a copy of the document, Peter Ticktin, a lawyer for Peters, stated he had seen it and verified it was a transfer request, not a bid for her release.
Motivations and Political Backlash
Although the Bureau of Prisons did not specify its reasons, Ticktin believes the move is motivated by a desire to facilitate Peters' involvement in ongoing investigations into 2020 presidential election voting machines. He also cited health problems she has reportedly experienced in state prison.
Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison after a jury in her home county of Mesa found her guilty last year. The conviction was for orchestrating a scheme that allowed unauthorized access to the election system she oversaw and for deceiving other officials about the identity of the individual involved.
Her case has made her a cause célèbre among election conspiracy theorists. Former President Trump and his supporters have repeatedly called for her release, especially as she appeals her conviction.
However, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is vehemently opposing the transfer. He stated there is "no basis" for moving Peters to federal prison and pledged to "strongly oppose" any such effort, calling any scheme to prevent her accountability under Colorado law "outrageous."
Context and Continued Denial of Election Facts
Despite Peters' continued promotion of discredited claims about rigged voting machines, there is no evidence of significant cheating in Colorado's elections. The state's elections have been consistently defended by county clerks, most of whom are Republican. Notably, Peters was prosecuted by an elected Republican district attorney, and the case was supported by supervisors in her own conservative-leaning county.
The push for her transfer adds another layer to a case that sits at the intersection of the justice system and persistent misinformation about the security of the 2020 election.
