Trump threatens Colorado with 'harsh measures' unless far-right election conspiracy theorist released from prison
Source: The Independent
Thursday 21 August 2025 18:59 BST
Donald Trump is demanding the release of a prominent far-right conspiracy theorist and former state elections official who is serving a nine-year jail sentence after she was found guilty of crimes connected to a nationwide scheme to overturn election results in states Trump lost in 2020.
He threatened harsh measures against the state of Colorado if officials refuse his command.
FREE TINA PETERS, a brave and innocent Patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians, including the big Mail-In Ballot supporting the governor of the State, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. Let Tina Peters out of jail, RIGHT NOW. She did nothing wrong, except catching the Democrats cheat in the Election, he added. She is an old woman, and very sick. If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!
Peters is among the only officials who have been convicted of crimes stemming from far-right plots to illegally reverse Trumps loss to Joe Biden in 2020, using positions of power to amplify bogus claims of fraud and launch spurious investigations into voting machines and software.
Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-tina-peters-jail-colorado-b2811995.html
REFERENCES
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142788912
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142866351
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142885119
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142935531
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142942971
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142946044
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142966125
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143289332
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143500669
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143316939
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143317720
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143351138

Emile
(36,952 posts)popsdenver
(295 posts)In reality, she allowed several right wing operatives to sneak in at night, and copy the hard drives of several Colorado voting machines.....
Their aim was not to use the voting machines hard drives to detect cheating, but obviously to use the hard drives programming to find a way to reprogram the voting machines to cheat in future elections to open the door to vote flipping, or cancelling out Dem Voters......in any area in the U.S. that uses that voting machine........
Republican espionage elevated to a much higher level............
You can be sure they were probably doing the same thing in countless Red States that use voting machines, and were never caught.....
hlthe2b
(111,102 posts)And Gov. Polis has already clearly stated he would not be doing so.
popsdenver
(295 posts)has already begun hammering the living crap in BLUE STATE Colorado and Denver. If they don't get their way on this, they will just focus more on going after Colorado/Denver in the future......
They have already been working on pulling all Federal Funding from Colorado, and ABBOTT/TEXAS sent 30,000-40,000 immigrants on buses to Denver last fall.
hlthe2b
(111,102 posts)You sound resigned to give up. I WILL NOT.
popsdenver
(295 posts)We have been literally leading the charge, every step of the way, for more than just a few decades...............
Javaman
(64,410 posts)if not, he's shit out of luck.
I think that's why he's ranting.
blue_jay
(96 posts)hlthe2b
(111,102 posts)found guilty (repeatedly) for crimes that threatened the validity and fair conduct of an election. Not that anyone has the legal ability to do so (other than the CO Supreme Court allowing for a successful appeal) or Governor Polis pardoning/commuting her sentence (something he has repeatedly stated will not happen).
Guess what, you contemptible moron, some people actually DO believe in our laws and justice, however much you have tried to bastardize the entire system.
madamesilverspurs
(16,353 posts)I got to attend a Democratic dinner last week, speaker was Joe Neguse (we need to clone him!). Also heard from our Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, who mentioned the Peters case as a favorite drum for MAGAts to beat. Griswold attended with her bodyguard, necessary because of the thousands of death threats she has received from trumpsters; her husband and infant son are similarly guarded since they have also been threatened. Peters is where she needs to be, where Trump and his enablers also need to be.
.
hlthe2b
(111,102 posts)Weve heard threats about withholding federal funding, Rubinstein (prosecutor in the case) speculates. I know the president has, for example, withheld grant funding to Harvard University Governor Polis has made it quite clear that he will not be responding to coercion or bribery in any way that he believes that to be some sort of form of extortion.-- May, 2025
https://thehill.com/homenews/5323742-tina-peters-trump-pardons/
Karasu
(1,901 posts)to law firms. Now we're at the point where they're so comfortable with this shit that they're threatening state governments just for the sake of one fucking random right-wing wackjob...and he's probably going to get his way.
hlthe2b
(111,102 posts)Colorado isn't Columbia University or Cornell or (pending) Harvard. This isn't going to play. Colorado, New Mexico, California, Washington, and Oregon will ultimately stand together for democracy. Coloradoans are supporting California's efforts on the redistricting (CO cannot do so for a multitude of reasons, including the presence of an independent state law-comprised committee) but I can assure you Dems in this state are supporting Newsom in those efforts. I fully expect CA and those other states will support Colorado in this fight as well.
See my posts with responses from our SOS Jena Griswold and earlier from Governor Polis. They will stand firm.
Karasu
(1,901 posts)prevail.
That would be a huge victory.
The criminal overreach of this administration is beyond anything I have seen in my lifetime.
If people dont start hitting the streets en masse soon , we may lose this country.
maxsolomon
(37,177 posts)Nice state you got there. Shame if something happened to it...
hlthe2b
(111,102 posts)Jena Griswold fires back after Trump calls again for Tina Peters release and threatens harsh measures
Colorado secretary of state accuses president of trying to rewrite the 2020 election
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/08/21/donald-trump-tina-peters-colorado-prison/
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold quickly fired back, calling both Peters and the president election-denying criminals who put their need for power ahead of the American people.
Trump is trying to power grab, Griswold, a Democrat, said in an interview with The Denver Post. He is trying to rewrite the 2020 election.
Peters, a Republican, is serving nine years behind bars after a jury convicted her last summer of breaching her countys election computer system in an attempt to buttress the presidents and his supporters false claims that the Democrats stole the 2020 election, which was won by Joe Biden, from Trump.
msongs
(72,184 posts)Hornedfrog2000
(804 posts)All the media will pay attention to
niyad
(126,417 posts)Atreus
(64 posts)Imagine being the President of the United States, with an entire countrys problems, many of which you precipitated, piling up, and deciding your priority is threatening a state government over a convicted election-denier who tried to help you overturn democracy. This isnt leadership, its mob-boss cosplay. The fact that Trump is demanding the release of someone actually found guilty in court shows how little he cares about law, justice, or reality. The man has nothing better to do than rage-post for criminals who served his lies.
Escape
(274 posts)Right?
It's COERCION. It's CRIMINAL THREATS. It's CRIMINAL INTIMIDATION.
.............it's against the FUCKING law.
twodogsbarking
(15,236 posts)
Escape
(274 posts)I'll work on the melody....
twodogsbarking
(15,236 posts)Initech
(106,131 posts)While that asshole is not only a convicted criminal himself, he's released more convicted criminals than any other president in United States history. All because they just kiss his worthless ass. WTF.
JustAnotherGen
(36,736 posts)He releases the unredacted Epstein files.
Warpy
(113,863 posts)where she discovered Q and the cult of personality and those allowed her to numb out while giving her a higher purpose in life.
It's hard not to feel a little sorry for her, but she still chose to act on her insanity and she did damage.
Also, if you think 69 is ancient, perhaps you need to rethink your own stay in office. Leave, already. Asshole.
She belongs right where she is, but hey Fats, if you want to help one of your foot soldiers who got caught, why not send her some psychological help? You can certainly afford it since you've been quietly cashing in your Shitcoins to buy bonds.
'Fraid right now she belongs where she is. If her health does deteriorate, then maybe a compassionate commuttion will be in the works, but that's not your decision on any level, you enforged tick on the backside of humanity.
MayReasonRule
(3,729 posts)Last edited Fri Aug 22, 2025, 11:51 AM - Edit history (1)
Here, the defense has, and Ms. Peters in particular, has remained quite defiant, which is her right, but certainly not helpful for her lot today. And in arguing why I should impose a particular sentence, she tells me about her ailments, her loss, her struggles, in life.
But in reality, for those of you who may have been here earlier this morning and seeing some of the folks whove occupied that chair before Ms. Peters, there could be not much in the way of a comparison in terms of the type of sympathy one would extend to Ms. Peters.
Those folks didnt have four lawyers representing them. They didnt have a team of assistants helping them. Theyre not getting rides in private jets all over the country.
You know the people who sit in that chair struggle generally speaking, immeasurable trauma in life, struggle mightily with alcohol abuse, substance abuse, mental health struggles, family loss. They come from broken homes. The cards they were dealt were never the cards that you were dealt, Ms. Peters.
So when I hear you discuss, your husband, sadly passed away recently, your family struggles and your son who served our country admirably and made the ultimate sacrifice, I consider it.
And I note too, that he honored his oath to the country, something that is not lost on me when considering the circumstances under which you find yourself here.
Your age, limited criminal history and the like, are certainly somewhat mitigating, your ties to the community are what they are, but your reputation at this point is poor because of what youve done here and after.
Your lies are well documented and these convictions are serious. Im convinced you would do it all over again if you could. Youre as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen.
You dont have those histories of drug and alcohol abuse. Theres no lifetime of trauma, not even close to the type of mitigating circumstances I would see from many folks who sit in that chair, No, to the contrary, Ms. Peters, you are a privileged person.
You are as privileged as they come. And you use that privilege to obtain power, a following and fame. And to be sure, theres no doubt in my mind that it is exactly what you wanted, and it defies all sense, of common sense, to believe when you suggested to me a few moments ago that you didnt want this attention. No, you, you crave it, maam, and there is no one in this courtroom who would consider that to be anything other than the absolute truth.
But to get to the point of what it is that you did here, its my impression distinctly that you never took your job of clerking particularly seriously.
You didnt complete the certification. One scandal after another followed you in your time as the clerk. And ultimately it was a belief that the echo chamber in which you live couldnt be wrong among other things, that led you to do what you did here. This thought process unfortunately seems to consume so many in our country, regardless of race, gender, political affiliation or the like, that what it is we hear and think cant possibly be wrong.
There are many things in my mind that are crystal clear about this case. You are no hero. You abused your position and youre a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil thats been proven to be junk time and time again. In your world, its all about you.
But at bottom, this case was about your corrupt conduct and how no one is above the law. No one in this country has absolute power. Your position as a clerk and recorder, a constitutional position, does not provide you with a means by which to do your own investigation, to not listen to the judiciary, to not listen to the executives higher than you, to not listen to the legislature who sets the law as it may be.
This is nonsense.
Our system of government cant function when people in government think that somehow, some way the power theyve been given is absolute in all respects. And thats where you fell.
You have no respect for the checks and balances of government. You have no respect for this court. You have no respect for law enforcement, and you do not have respect for your fellow colleagues when you were a clerk and recorder who werent in lockstep in your beliefs.
Indeed, just weeks before trial, you were apparently doing what I mentioned earlier, that is over at the clerk and recorders office, where youre not supposed to be, violating the protection order by speaking to employees of that entity with your camera crew in tow.
You have no qualms with violating the courts orders because you are innocent because you didnt do anything wrong you were just doing your job. You have no problem trying to kick an officer.
Your explanation about what happened is preposterous. Its on video. You have no problem lying to officers. Its happened multiple times. Theyre recorded conversations. Its just more lies.
No objective person believes them. No, at the end of the day, you cared about the jets, the podcasts, and the people fawning over you. You abdicated your position as a servant to the constitution and you chose you over all else.
Yes, you are a charlatan and you cannot help but lie as easy as it is for you to breathe. You betrayed your oath for no one other than you.
And this is what makes Ms. Peters such a danger to our community. Its the position she held that has provided her the pulpit from which she can preach these lies, the undermining of our democratic process, the undermining of the belief and confidence in our election systems. Its not about questioning it. No one says you cant question, you cant ask. Its completely different. And if you dont understand that distinction, then theres nothing I can say or do here today that will change your mind.
So the damage that is caused and continues to be caused is just as bad, if not worse, than the physical violence that this court sees on an all too regular basis. And its particularly damaging when those words come from someone who holds a position of influence like you.
Every effort to undermine the integrity of our elections and publics trust in our institutions has been made by you. Youve done it from that lectern the voting public provided you with, everything youve done has been done to retain control, influence. The damage is immeasurable.
And every time it gets refuted, every time its shown to be false, just another tale is weaved.
So Ill begin by saying Ive considered all of those purposes of a stay of an execution of a sentence. Ive mentioned all of them here generally in my comments already, and I find that a stay of any sentence I impose would be wholly unwarranted.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Ks_P8NzBJEs?t=9537s
Judge Scolds âPrivilegedâ MAGA Election Official During Searing Sentencing
— garci32 (@garci32.bsky.social) 2024-10-04T09:25:01.893Z
www.thedailybeast.com/tina-peters-...
Just a few months ago,Tina Peters said she won't shut up,she said they have to kill me or send me to prison!!!
And now she is going to prison !!
popsdenver
(295 posts)Driving home all the Key points........well said !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She committed Right Wing Espionage against the country............actually her actions were directly intended for the Republicans to be able to corrupt the voting across the entire nation in all future elections..........................no different than the J6 insurrectionists............
MayReasonRule
(3,729 posts)Tina Peters is a fascist turd birthed in the septic bowels of the child-raping orange shit-gibbon that is Donald Trump and shat out of his prolapsed gaping asshole... which incidentally is simultaneously where Trump speaks from and where Trump's 'sense of taste' resides.
Explains a lot.
We here in Colorado have a history of totally corrupted Republican Politicians.
Starting with a totally corrupted Ann? Gorsuch, (BTW: whose son is a Supreme Court Justice), and another, Gale Norton, who as Colorado AJ....let Rockwell Corp skate on a World Class Toxic Waste Site outside of Boulder.......and that act earned her an immediate promotion to Secretary of the Interior under WBush......
I had a button I wore back in the 60's. I dug it out of my drawer a few years back, and started wearing it daily on my jacket I wore out in Public.
IGNORANCE SHOULD BE PAINFUL............LOL Interestingly the MAGAots who saw it, thought it was me calling out the DEMS.......LOL
popsdenver
(295 posts)We here in Colorado have a history of totally corrupted Republican Politicians.
Starting with a totally corrupted Ann? Gorsuch, (BTW: whose son is a Supreme Court Justice), and another, Gale Norton, who as Colorado AJ....let Rockwell Corp skate on a World Class Toxic Waste Site outside of Boulder.......and that act earned her an immediate promotion to Secretary of the Interior under WBush......( a member of the Grand Jury was soooo upset with what Gale Norton did, that he leaked to the local media what the Grand Jury decided vs what she did, that he went to prison for leaking the horrific plutonium contamination and the tiny hand slap she gave Rockwell and Dow? as punishment......The IMMEDIATE site of Rocky Flats will be permanently vacated for thousands of years, and there is nothing that can be realistically be done for the 34 square miles down wind that were polluted with 14lbs of powdered plutonium that escaped.....
I had a button I wore back in the 60's. I dug it out of my drawer a few years back, and started wearing it daily on my jacket I wore out in Public.
IGNORANCE SHOULD BE PAINFUL............LOL Interestingly the MAGAots who saw it, thought it was me calling out the DEMS.......LOL
MayReasonRule
(3,729 posts)Dead on point.
Ignorance is painful.
Painful for all, not just the ignorant.
You just listed a prime example.
Trouble is, there's no easy way when you're a hardcore 'believer' and you 'trust' in the schemes of the fools and the dreamers.
When jubilant elation meets ultimate sorrow, catastrophe's joy can take 'em decades to swallow.
TLDR: You can't fix stupid.
Warpy
(113,863 posts)but I know she was defiant at her sentencing, that's how cults work. It takes a lot of deprogramming to break through the conditioning.
When I said I felt a bit sorry for her, I'd feel sorry for anyone who was preyed upon by these scumbags after the shock of losing a son who had survived war and finding out one's husband was dying of cancer. These are human things and deserve some compassion.
However, I have never been so open minded that my brains have fallen out and I did say she did damage and belongs where she is, barring some terminal illness down the road with compassionate release once she can do no more harm.
Sorry if that wasn't clear enough..
MayReasonRule
(3,729 posts)I too am empathetic in a lot of respects to those that are caught up within delusion.
It's the rare individual that escapes.
The reason is because Delusion always gives birth to further Delusion in order to sustain the original premise of the first Delusion.
I too am empathetic with those caught up within acute emotional distress.
Mental illness is very real.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Unfortunately for me I was reared to be so 'open minded' that I lost 'me'...
I was reared and inculcated within the Abrahamic blood cults of 'Christ'.
I was taught to become "None of self and all of Thee."
I literally lost myself by the age of eight.
I and my honey were reared together and struggle not to be overly compassionate when dealing with those that inflict harm upon us.
I apologize for the 'wall' of text.
I'd just listened to a rebroadcast of the sentencing audio via Radio Garden and was honestly flabbergasted by how the moved I was by the Judge.
It allowed me to move on from being overly compassionate for this particular individual whose case I'd not followed that closely.
Happy Friday to ya' again and thank you for your discussing your insights here on DU!
You're always incisive!

Thank you for that!
Warpy
(113,863 posts)I survived Catholic school, so I understand. I've also seen friends in crisis fall down various rabbit holes, some with sociopaths at the bottom, waiting for them. Yes, I feel sorry for her. I still don't want her walking free while she can sill do damage.
MayReasonRule
(3,729 posts)All of the rest of the members of our families are firmly embroiled within the Abrahamic blood cults of 'Christ' as Nat-C's...
There's no easy way when one is caught up within delusion.
No easy way at all.
I was reared to be and do what it is that Mike Johnson is today.
The childhood home in which we reside today is less than twenty-miles from where Mike Johnson was reared.
I'm forever grateful to have rejected that proposition.
We're grateful each day to have escaped.
RobertDevereaux
(2,013 posts)TINA PETERS stays right where she belongs.
Initech
(106,131 posts)And so do all of your J6 nutcases! You say "no one is above the law" but you constantly release convicted criminals on the street because they kiss your worthless ass.
Aviation Pro
(14,667 posts)For your big patrol? Don't have a fucking ND, you fucking spaz.
LudwigPastorius
(13,262 posts)What does that make you...fossilized?
Baitball Blogger
(50,823 posts)EVERYONE must have a chance to see how Trump is extorting Colorado, using the power of the Federal government.
Jack Valentino
(3,104 posts)That WOULD be SERIOUS, the MOST SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES
that ANYONE has EVER SEEN!!!!
(Gavin inspired response here)
Skittles
(166,890 posts)
Hotler
(13,400 posts)Bengus81
(9,209 posts)Wouldn't surprise me.........
popsdenver
(295 posts)with ICE? months ago............and recently stated that what he is doing in DC, he would like to do in LA and Denver to name a few targeted cities...
The Republicans, years ago, proved they will stop at nothing.........Look no further than what Trump, his incestuous spawn daughter, and her husband did with the PPE during covid to the State of Massachusetts.................................
TheFourthMind
(349 posts)Bengus81
(9,209 posts)BumRushDaShow
(158,795 posts)Amanda Pampuro / July 31, 2024
(snip)
Peters faces three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, four felony counts related to impersonation and identity theft and a misdemeanor count each of official misconduct, violating her duties and failing to comply with the secretary of states requirements.
Prosecutors say that in May 2021, Peters instructed her deputy clerk to turn off security cameras and arranged for associate Conan Hayes to observe and photograph the voting machine trusted build, an update process conducted in person since the machines cant connect to the Internet.
Peters then reportedly sent data and passwords to a Florida-based company for analysis and allowed them to be posted on the social media site Telegram by Ron Watkins, a key player in the QAnon conspiracy movement.
District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein investigated Peters' claims of election fraud and discovered several instances of human error rather than an attempt to change the results of an election. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold decertified the countys voting machines, prompting commissioners to shell out $96,153 on a contract extension to get new machines.
(snip)
Bengus81
(9,209 posts)LOL....Bet that broke idiot wishes he could have that money back about now.
BumRushDaShow
(158,795 posts)He funded one of the GOP's infamous "films", featuring her, related to their manufactured "voter fraud" - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143245019
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20863620/
Peters, who was featured in the Lindell-funded 2020 election conspiracy movie [S]election Code, is accused at the state level of tampering with election equipment, attempting to influence public servants, and engaging in official misconduct by allowing an unauthorized third party to make copies of voting machine hard drives, leading confidential digital images of county Dominion Voting Systems equipment and passwords to be published on the internet.
(snip)
They had done a search and seizure on him (and took his phone) to get evidence on Peters - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142972567
Lovie777
(19,902 posts)comes to mind.
shithole essentially terrorizing American citizens.
Here in LA we are fighting back, even the NG are not happy.
And the nerve of red states sending NG wherein their cities have higher crime rates .