Colorado is asking a federal judge in Denver to reject the U.S. Justice Department’s statement of interest in the case of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. In its filing, the state writes that the DOJ intervention has no legitimate basis and is a “grotesque attempt to weaponize the rule of law.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser submitted the filing Tuesday in response to the DOJ’s statement of interest.
“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,” writes Weiser.
In October Peters was sentenced to nine years incarceration tied to her efforts to help a man gain unauthorized access to Mesa County’s Dominion voting machines in 2021. She and others were hunting for evidence that the machines had manipulated votes, something their efforts failed to find.
The Justice Department said it plans to evaluate the state prosecution of Peters, citing an executive order from President Trump titled “Ending the Weaponization of The Federal Government.” It will focus on whether the case was “oriented more toward inflicting political pain than toward pursuing actual justice or legitimate governmental objectives.”
Peters, who is currently incarcerated at the Larimer County jail, is asking the federal court to release her on bond while she appeals her state case. In the Tuesday filing, Weiser said Peters was denied bail because at trial she “demonstrated repeatedly that she believed she was above the law.”…