McKenzie Lange/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel via AP
Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Tina Peters and her deputy clerk Belinda Knisley were indicted on a combined 16 counts on Tuesday night for their alleged involvement in a breach of Mesa County voter data. The indictment, announced Wednesday morning, accuses Peters and Knisley of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiring to commit the same offense, violation of duty, and failing to comply with the secretary of state. Peters also faces charges of attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, identify theft, first-degree official misconduct. Seven of her charges are felonies.
The pair are accused of an elaborate scheme to access voting machines, which were under their office’s care in May 2021. They allegedly plotted to turn off security cameras that monitored the machines, and allowed an unauthorized person to access those machines once security footage went dark. In August, voter information from the machines appeared online, published by conspiracy theorists like Ron Watkins. Peters soon became a regular on the conspiracy circuit, speaking at MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's “cyber symposium” on supposed voter fraud. (The leaked data did not show election malfeasance.) The indictments recommend the pair be held without bail.
An initial press release from the Mesa County District Attorney stated that Peters had been indicted on 11 counts. The office later clarified that was indicted on 10 counts.