Tina Peters jailed over election fraud investigation

FPI / March 11, 2022

Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Tina Peters turned herself in after being indicted on several felony counts stemming from her investigation into fraud in the 2020 election including the role played by Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems.

After a grand jury indicted her, Peters turned herself in on Wednesday afternoon at the Mesa County jail. Her bond was set at $500,000.

Peters is running this year to unseat Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. Backed by billionaire George Soros, Griswold last year imposed a ban on Arizona-style third-party election audits.

If Peters is successful, she would be the state’s top elections official.

Peters, in a March 1 letter to the Board of County Commissioners, delivered a forensic analysis of the Internet-connected Dominion Voting Systems equipment which she termed "uncertifiable".

In November, FBI agents raided the home of Peters, who has called for audits of the 2020 election and is a Gold Star mom.

“Not men with suits and badges, soldiers with automatic weapons and combat gear so it was pretty over the top,” Peters said at the time. “We are living in a world where the FBI is turning on anyone who speaks out against the Biden administration.”

The indictment came after numerous local, state and federal investigations into alleged election equipment tampering.

Former law professor David Clements wrote in a Telegram post: "Unreal. The Colorado SOS and her county vote traffickers subvert the election and the only honest clerk in the state is indicted."

Joe Oltmann, a Denver businessman who exposed claims about the 2020 election by a Dominion Voting Systems executive, said in a Telegram post: "County Clerk of Mesa County Tina Peters and Belinda Knisley is in jail tonight. The bail was set at $500,000 for a gold star mom. Where are we men? These pieces of trash who have manipulated and weaponized the legal process need to pay. $500,000 because she exposed the fraudulent election of 2020. We are growing close to having to throw them all out."

Peters' letter last week said the forensic analysis revealed that Mesa County’s Dominion system was “illegally configured” in a way that “vote totals can be easily changed.”

Related: Mesa County report: Internet-connected voting system ‘uncertifiable’, 2020 certification ‘unlawful’, March 6, 2022

The Mesa County District Attorney’s Office says Peters is charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, a Class 4 felony; one count of attempting to influence a public servant, a Class 5 felony; one count of criminal impersonation, a Class 6 felony; one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, a Class 6 felony; one count of identify theft, a Class 4 felony; and one count of first-degree official misconduct, a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Deputy clerk Belinda Knisley was charged with six criminal counts, including five felonies. Knisley also turned herself in.

“This investigation is ongoing, and other defendants may be charged as we learn more information,” Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein and Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a joint statement. “We remind everyone that these are allegations at this point and that they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

Peters, in a statement, called the indictment “politically motivated” and vowed she would not abandon her bid to become secretary of state despite calls from state Republicans to do so.

The indictment does not preclude Peters from running to be Colorado’s secretary of state. If she is convicted and sentenced to prison, however, she would not be able to serve in the role.

Free Press International