{"id":761,"date":"2026-05-20T10:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=761"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T10:30:08","slug":"three-wrongs-dont-make-a-right-in-case-of-election-denier-and-colorado-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=761","title":{"rendered":"Three wrongs don\u2019t make a right in case of election denier and Colorado governor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It\u2019s entirely possible \u2014 as hard as it may be to conceive in these deeply tribal, us-vs.-them times \u2014 for two competing notions to be true.<\/p>\n

Read more In deal with business leaders, $30 minimum wage for L.A. hotel and airport workers will be delayed<\/a><\/p>\n

Tina Peters personally enriched herself and betrayed the public trust by perpetrating a harebrained scheme to \u201cprove\u201d the 2020 election in Mesa County, Colo., was rigged against President Trump. The former county clerk and MAGA warrior deserved to go to jail.<\/p>\n

But the nine-year sentence she received was unduly harsh and, according to an appeals court decision, improperly meted out as punishment for the false and reckless public statements Peters made, a clear violation of her 1st Amendment rights. The court kicked the case back for resentencing.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Colorado\u2019s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, stepped in. <\/p>\n

And stepped in it.<\/p>\n

Over the strenuous objection of fellow Democrats and many Republicans \u2014 including Peters\u2019 prosecutor and a majority of Colorado\u2019s election clerks \u2014 Polis commuted her sentence, clearing the way for Peters\u2019 parole on June 1 after less than two years in prison.<\/p>\n

Which just goes to show three wrongs don\u2019t make a right.<\/p>\n

Peters, 70, was convicted on multiple criminal counts, four of them felonies, for conspiring to let an unauthorized person access supposedly compromised voting equipment. She then lied to cover up her actions. <\/p>\n

Trump carried Mesa County, a conservative stronghold, by nearly 30 percentage points, making Peters\u2019 actions \u2014 apart from illegal \u2014 unaccountably stupid. But her conniving made her a belle of Mar-a-Lago and a celebrity on the election-denial circuit, jetting around the country and spewing cockamamie conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

Trump loudly agitated for her release.<\/p>\n

His corrupted Justice Department sought to get Peters sprung from Colorado prison, presumably to set her loose from a federal facility. The president issued a symbolic \u201cpardon,\u201d though Peters\u2019 conviction on state charges put her beyond his crooked reach. Trump insulted and belittled Polis, suggesting, among other things, he \u201crot in hell.\u201d More significantly, the vengeful president waged economic war against Colorado.<\/p>\n

Among the retributive acts, Trump slashed federal funds earmarked for the state, closed a climate research center in Boulder and moved the U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Alabama.<\/p>\n

Polis, who has a broad libertarian streak, insisted his freeing of Peters was not a capitulation to Trump, but rather a matter of principle, which seems plausible to the extent the governor could have anticipated the unshirted hell he\u2019s gotten from fellow Democrats.<\/p>\n

Among the great many infuriated by Polis\u2019 decision are Colorado\u2019s two U.S. senators, as well as other vocal critics up and down the ballot. (One of those indignant senators is Michael Bennet, who is running to replace Polis.) There have been calls, within his own party, to investigate and impeach the governor, who had been spoken of as a potential presidential candidate in 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was aiming for a national profile,\u201d said Floyd Ciruli, a pollster who\u2019s been taking soundings of Colorado voters for decades. \u201cThis makes it much more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more In growing fight, Steyer\u2019s campaign says pro-Becerra influencers didn\u2019t disclose pay<\/a><\/p>\n

Given Democrats\u2019 molten outrage, that seems like an understatement.<\/p>\n

The judge who sentenced Peters in October 2024 was unsparing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re as defiant … a defendant as this court has ever seen,\u201d District Judge Matthew Barrett scolded her. \u201cYou are as privileged as they come and you used that privilege to obtain power, a following and fame. You are no hero…. You\u2019re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that\u2019s been proven to be junk time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n

The problem, according to the Colorado Court of Appeals, was that Barrett wrongly punished Peters not just for her illegal actions but for speaking out about alleged election fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,\u201d the three-judge panel wrote in a unanimous April decision. \u201cIt was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judges \u2014 all Democratic appointees \u2014 upheld Peters\u2019 conviction and denied her request to transfer the case from Barrett. They ordered him to come up with a new sentence.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where Polis, who placed Barrett on the bench, should have let things alone.<\/p>\n

Instead, the governor interceded and essentially cut Peters\u2019 sentence in half. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe crimes you were convicted of are very serious and you deserve to spend time in prison,\u201d Polis wrote in his commutation letter. \u201cHowever, this is an extremely unusual and lengthy sentence for a first time offender who committed nonviolent crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Peters thanked Polis, apologized and expressed contrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made mistakes, and for those I am sorry,\u201d Peters wrote in a statement addressed to the governor. \u201cI have learned and grown during my time in prison and going forward I will make sure that my actions always follow the law, and I will avoid the mistakes of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see about that. If Peters clambers back aboard Mike Lindell\u2019s crazy plane \u2014 he of MyPillow and election denial fame \u2014 we\u2019ll know Polis was duped.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see his actions as surrendering to Trump. If so, Polis\u2019 cave-in was pointless. The president is a bully to his core, always demanding more.<\/p>\n

But if you take the governor at his word, and his actions weren\u2019t meant as appeasement, what he did was bad nonetheless. He emulated one of Trump\u2019s worst habits, short-circuiting a well-established, independent process by substituting his own headstrong judgment.<\/p>\n

Read more California, other states sue over new Trump limits on loans for nurses, PAs, therapists<\/a><\/p>\n

Pride, the saying goes, comes before a fall. In Polis\u2019 case, so does arrogance.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tina Peters deserved to go to jail but not for nine years, a panel of judges decreed, ordering her resentencing. Jared Polis then stepped in and substituted his own judgment. It was the height of arrogance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nThree wrongs don\u2019t make a right in case of election denier and Colorado governor - California Relocation Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=761\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three wrongs don\u2019t make a right in case of election denier and Colorado governor - California Relocation Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tina Peters deserved to go to jail but not for nine years, a panel of judges decreed, ordering her resentencing. 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