Trump publicly calls for the release of 'political prisoner' Tina Peters

U.S. President Donald Trump publicly called for the release of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters through Truth Social. She was convicted on seven counts by a jury of Mesa County residents. "Tina is an innocent Political Prisoner being horribly and unjustly punished in the form of Cruel and Unusual Punishment," wrote Trump, who also ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to "take all necessary action to help secure the release of this 'hostage' being held in a Colorado prison by the Democrats, for political reasons." To close the message, Trump wrote: "FREE TINA PETERS, NOW!"

At the trial, which took place in August 2024, the jury also found Peters guilty of four felonies after she facilitated unauthorized access to county voting equipment she was supposed to protect, following her attempt to find evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. While there have been different investigations into this incident, so far it has not been possible to prove that the machines were involved in any kind of electoral manipulation to disfavor Trump or favor then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

Shots fired against Weiser

Peters, who is serving a nine-year sentence at La Vista Correctional Center, has repeatedly claimed that she committed no crime or illegal act in allowing an unauthorized person to use another's identity to access election equipment in her office and attend a confidential software upgrade. "Radical Left Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser ignores Illegals committing Violent Crimes like Rape and Murder in his State and, instead, jailed Tina Peters, a 69-year-old Gold Star mother who worked to expose and document Democrat Election Fraud. Tina is an innocent Political Prisoner being horribly and unjustly punished in the form of Cruel and Unusual Punishment," Trump detailed in his Truth Social post.

In March, Weiser's office released a statement in which it explained that the DOJ's intervention in Peters' case not only had no legitimate basis, but was also a "grotesque attempt to weaponize the rule of law." Similarly, the office detailed that "The United States cites not a single fact to support its baseless allegations that there are any reasonable concerns about Ms. Peters’ prosecution or sentence, or that the prosecution was politically motivated."