Throughout this period, Trump has continued to post about the Peters issue on Truth Social, specifically targeting Polis, whom he called the “sleazebag governor of Colorado” on December 3. On New Year’s Eve, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “It’s hard to make a wish” [Peters] Happy New Year, but to the crooked Governor and the despicable “Republican” (RINO!) DA… I wish them only the worst. May they rot in hell. Free Tina Peters!” (Trump has posted about the Peters issue eight times on Truth Social in the past nine months.)
At the time, Peters’ legal team, led by Peter Ticktin, who attended the New York Military Academy with Trump, was engaged in the work. On December 7, Ticktin sent Trump a nine-page letter outlining his client’s case and demanding a pardon. Four days later, on December 11, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Today I am granting a full pardon to Tina for her efforts to expose voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.” Although Trump has no power to pardon people convicted of state charges, Ticktin claimed the same applies to his client.
Peters’ legal team has applied for clemency to the governor. Although Polis was initially unlikely to consider the idea, in recent weeks he has indicated that he is considering reducing her sentence, which he has described as “harsh”.
“You look at every clemency case on its merits,” Polis recently told CBS. “You have someone who is nonviolent, a first-time offender, a veteran. On the other hand, does she take full accountability for her crime? We don’t look at that differently.”
Polis’ potential change of heart has surprised many in Colorado. Earlier this month, Griswold, along with a Colorado county clerk and the director of the state clerks association, sent a letter to Polis urging him not to commute Peters’ sentence.
“I don’t believe that bowing to a vindictive president stops retaliation,” Griswold told WIRED. “Trump is an anarchist president. He disregards the law, he disregards the Constitution, and when people don’t budge, he begins to retaliate. I believe that leads to more illegal actions and abusive actions on the part of the president.”
“Donald Trump and I have known each other since we were 15 years old,” Ticktin told WIRED. Ticktin said he has spoken directly to the president about the matter, but he says Trump’s actions are not about retribution: “For Governor Polis to stand up to Donald Trump over something that is inappropriate is drawing more attention to the state and more attention to the state.” [but] I don’t think this is revenge against Donald Trump.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about whether Trump was waging a retaliatory campaign against Colorado, but instead provided a list of reasons why each action was taken — even including answers to two issues WIRED did not raise: childcare funding and disaster relief.
Election clerks around Colorado are already meeting to discuss a possible pardon of Peters, and after an online meeting this month, all but one of the Colorado County Clerks Association members agreed to the wording of the letter Griswold sent to Polis.
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