Trump's Trials - Former Colorado clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines released early

Episode Date: June 2, 2026

Tina Peters, a county clerk in Colorado convicted of interfering in the 2020 elections, was released from jail early after President Trump pressured the state's Democratic governor.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's terms. I'm Scott Detrow. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president. With a focus on ways his administration is pushing the boundaries of presidential power. Here's the latest from NPR. From NPR News, I'm A Martinez. A former Colorado election clerk, an ally of President Trump, is out of prison. The state's Democratic governor commuted her sentence.

Colorado Public Radio's Bent to Berklin has more. Former Mesa County clerk, Tina Peters, was serving a nearly nine-year sentence after being convicted in 2024 for her actions related to tampering with voting machines. Peter has allowed an unauthorized person to gain access to the machines about six months after the 2020 presidential election to search for vote rigging. Hours after her release from prison, after serving just shy of two years, she appeared on the Steve Bannon podcast War Room. I know that the Democrats are going to cheat and no one's really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for, and that was exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped. That was not true. State audits and hand counts showed the machines were secure and accurately counted the paper ballots. So far, the courts have upheld her guilty verdict. The issue is the sentence. The Colorado Court of Appeals said her election-denying beliefs may have led the trial judge to give her a longer sentence. The state's Democratic governor, Jared Polis, agreed. He said her harsh sentence was influenced by her, quote, nutty beliefs. I think it's outrageous that anybody, you know, spreads lies about elections, but free speech is a cornerstone of our constitutional rights.

our democracy, and that should not have been a factor in sentencing. The governor faced immediate blowback. The state Democratic Party centered Polis and barred him from speaking at party functions. Polis's term limited this year. Democrats say commuting Peter's sentence emboldens Trump and makes the job even more difficult for county clerks. For NPR News, I'm Benta Berkland in Colorado. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism. If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org.

I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.