A federal judge has refused to release the former Colorado elections clerk convicted of trying to overturn the 2020 election, despite President Donald Trump calling for her to be freed while she appeals her case.
Tina Peters, a former official from Mesa County, Colorado, was found guilty last year of seven criminal counts—including four felony charges—for letting Trump’s allies illegally access the county’s election system after Trump falsely claimed Joe Biden had “stolen” the election from him.
During a contentious hearing in October 2024, Colorado trial court Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced Peters to nine years in prison, saying she was “as defiant a defendant as this court has ever seen,” and that her “lies” and “corrupt conduct” made her a “danger to the community.”
Even after she was indicted, Peters, who has become a cause célèbre for the MAGA, ran unsuccessfully for Colorado secretary of state, and continued pushing conspiracy theories about voter fraud.
Earlier this year, she filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her imprisonment on constitutional grounds and arguing that she should be granted bond during her appeal.
But on Monday, that petition was dismissed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak.
His decision cited a decades-old Supreme Court case prohibiting federal courts from interfering with ongoing state criminal proceedings except in the case of “extraordinary or special circumstances,” which Varholak found didn’t apply to Peters’ case.
“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,” he added.
Varholak also called out a major typo in one of Peters’ filings. His opinion noted that her “Emergency Motion for Court to Issue Expidited (sic) Opinion”—which should have been written as “Expedited”—was “denied as moot.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to intervene in the case, despite not having any authority over the proceedings. The president can only pardon defendants convicted of federal crimes, not state crimes.
Earlier this month, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Peters should be released from jail because of her advanced age.
“The SLEAZEBAG Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, refuses to allow an elderly woman, Tina Peters, who was unfairly convicted of what the Democrats do, cheating on Elections, out of jail!” Trump, 79, wrote about Peters, 70. “FREE TINA!”
The federal Bureau of Prisons also requested on Nov. 12 that Peters be transferred to federal custody to serve her sentence, The Washington Post reported.
It’s not clear why the transfer was requested, but the Trump administration could make Peters’ jail time much more comfortable if she were in federal custody—just as it has done for Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for abusing and trafficking young girls.
Maxwell was sentenced to a low-security prison camp after she said positive things about Trump during a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. She has since received custom meals, exercise perks, and even access to a therapy puppy.
The prisons bureau has declined to comment on why it asked Colorado to transfer Peters to federal custody, or on which facility she would be sent to if the request were approved.
With her habeas corpus petition denied, Polis, who is a Democrat, remains Peters’ last hope for the time being. So far, he has refused to direct the Colorado Department of Corrections to approve the move.
