Tina Peters, an election-integrity activist, has been released from prison after Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted her nine-year sentence. The former prisoner walked out a free woman on Monday, having been incarcerated since October 2024 in a maximum-security facility.
“It’s a miracle, it really is,” Peters told podcaster Steve Bannon on Monday. She credited the governor for pardoning 35 individuals and granting clemency to nine, including herself. The Colorado Democratic Party criticized Polis’s decision, with some members calling for his impeachment.
Throughout President Donald Trump’s second term, federal authorities pressured Colorado officials to free Peters. By August of last year, Trump threatened “harsh measures” if they did not act. In December, he pardoned her, but that action did not result in her release because she was convicted on state charges.
The U.S. Justice Department also attempted to transfer Peters into federal custody without success. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold described Trump’s campaign as an “assault on our democracy.” With little indication of early release, Peters was freed following a pivotal court decision from April.
Peters was imprisoned after a jury convicted her of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and official misconduct. Authorities claimed she copied election-related data and images that were later made public.
Peters believed voting machines manipulated votes in the 2020 general election to benefit Joe Biden. In an August 16 interview with TNA weeks before her imprisonment, she stated she had evidence of collusion between Dominion Voting Systems, the Colorado secretary of state, and foreign entities to steal votes.
Her nine-year sentence was unprecedented for election-related offenses. This past April, the Colorado Court of Appeals ordered a re-sentencing after the trial court’s sentencing remarks were deemed unfair. The judge, before jury deliberation, referred to Peters as a “charlatan” who peddled “snake oil.” Appellate judges noted this as a “First Amendment problem” that “fundamentally calls into question the fairness of the sentence,” stating:
“The trial court’s comments about Peters’ belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing. Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.”
Polis cited this court decision as his reason for commuting her sentence: “It was very clear she committed these criminal acts, but the fact that she holds certain beliefs should not impact the sentencing.”
While imprisoned, Peters’ advocates expressed concerns about her safety. Her attorney reported multiple assaults in prison, and in a mid-May statement, Peters described receiving death threats. During her conversation with Bannon, she added: “I was in with women who had done horrendous crimes.”
Now focused on reform efforts, Peters has dedicated herself to prison reform and election integrity. She noted that the Colorado correctional system serves unhealthy food and creates addiction issues, particularly with Suboxone—a prescription opioid used for treating addiction but also prone to abuse. “My experiences have given me a perspective that I plan to share with others to improve Colorado’s corrections system,” she said in May.
Peters remains committed to election reform through legal channels. “I know that the Democrats are going to cheat,” she told Bannon. She expressed disappointment that reform has not been implemented, stating: “No one is really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for, and that was exposing the election machines that allowed the votes to be flipped.”
Hours after her release, Peters thanked Trump for his role in drawing attention to what she described as an unjust situation. She plans to spend weeks “regaining” health, noting she developed digestive problems and skin “growths” due to prison conditions. “I feel like I’ve aged about 10 years,” she said.
Peters affirmed she will continue her mission: “Even though Governor Polis reduced my sentence from nine years to four and a half years, I still have a fight to clear my name and bring out the truth of why they came after me the way they did.”