Exclusive: Bennet pushes back on Polis, urges governor not to ‘capitulate’ to Trump on Peters sentence 

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Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters convicted in election interference case

Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters convicted in election interference case

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is urging Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) not to “capitulate” to President Trump and commute the sentence of Tina Peters, a former county clerk who was convicted of tampering with voting machines.

Bennet urged Polis Wednesday not to give in to the intense pressure from Trump, who has withheld federal transportation funding and threatened to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, in what Democrats say has been an attempt to compel Colorado officials to release Peters from state prison.

“Tina Peters knowingly broke the law, undermined our elections and was rightfully convicted by a jury of her peers. Tina Peters’s sentence should not be commuted. She should not be pardoned,” Bennet told The Hill in an interview.

“Donald Trump is seeking revenge on Colorado and surrendering to his political pressure will not make our state safer or stronger,” he said.

“We should not capitulate to Donald Trump’s lawlessness,” he declared.

Bennet is running for governor and faces state Attorney General Phil Weiser in the primary.

Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison because of her actions related to a 2021 security breach of her elections office in an attempt to prove debunked claims of election fraud.

Polis on Wednesday indicated that he’s considering granting Peters clemency after his friend, Democratic state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, was sentenced to only probation and community service after being convicted of four felonies, including attempting to influence a public official.

“It is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters — attempting to influence a public official — and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first time offender got a nine year sentence,” Polis posted on X, the social media platform.

“Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law. This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities, which is why I have extended the deadline for clemency applications until April 3rd,” Polis wrote.

Polis floated potential clemency of Peters in the face of intense pressure from Trump, who pledged to pardon Peters.

The federal Bureau of Prisons last year attempted to transfer Peters to federal custody, which would have given the president more jurisdiction to commute her sentence.  But that effort failed after Colorado officials pushed back.

Since then, the Trump administration has turned the screws on Colorado by threatening to dismantle the atmospheric research center in Boulder and withheld more than $300 million in federal funding for the state.

“There’s extensive pools of federal funding related to transportation, transit that [Trump’s] pulled back from Colorado. There’s been his attempt to shut down NCAR in Boulder. There’s his veto of the Arkansas Valley Conduit,” Bennet said, referring to the National Center on Atmospheric Research and a pipeline to bring clean drinking water to rural communities in Southeastern Colorado.

Bennet argued that Trump should not be allowed to manipulate the criminal justice system in Colorado to free Peters from prison.

“She broke the law and she was convicted by a jury of her peers and we should not capitulate to Donald Trump’s lawlessness. That will only produce more lawlessness,” he said.  

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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