I do not know why Gov. Jared Polis keeps playing footsy with Tina Peters and President Donald Trump. Apparently neither does any other serious individual engaged in Colorado’s election system.
Since Trump retook office, his administration has worked to do whatever it can to alternately free Peters or make her prison life more comfortable. In April, Trump’s Department of (In)Justice stood before a federal judge and argued on Peters’ behalf; specifically to set her free as she awaited an appeal. They had neither facts nor case law to support their position, but made her case regardless. That is the type of behavior that doesn’t just raise the ire of judges, but should also put law licenses in danger.
Six months later, the DOJ pressed Polis to step in and send Peters to federal custody.
It is not hard to understand why Trump would want Peters under his purvey. While he cannot pardon her directly — though he may try if a transfer goes through — he can certainly make her life much easier. If placed in federal hands, it seems likely Peters would get the Ghislaine Maxwell treatment.
Trump’s administration famously sent the convicted child sex-trafficker to a “country club prison” in Texas days after Trump’s former defense attorney-cum-Deputry Attorney General met with Maxwell behind closed doors. Jeffery Epstein’s confidant and accomplice, Maxwell helped him groom and abuse young girls for decades. She also happened to be friends with Trump himself, frequently appearing in pictures with him.
Since being transferred to the minimum-security prison, Maxwell has apparently been provided extra special treatment. A whistleblower disclosed that Maxwell gets customized meals personally delivered, is afforded private meetings with visitors complete with snacks and refreshments, had direct contact with the warden to relay her correspondence and is allowed to play with puppies outside the normal scope of the prison training program.
It seems like the prison version of a private island.
No wonder Peters wants the same treatment. During her own sentencing hearing, Peters repeatedly fretted over how uncomfortable she would be in prison. As the judge noted, she seemed more concerned about that than the harm she had done to public trust. While not posh, her Pueblo prison is at least a far sight more comfortable than ICE detention facilities where Trump has been sending people accused of nothing more than crossing the border.
If Peters and Trump got their way, she could be cavorting with Maxwell, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and celebrity housewife Jen Shah on daily strolls through the oak trees dotting the prison grounds.
The message that would be sent to election deniers and want-to-be insurrectionists would be sickening. It would all but excuse any action they took, no matter how illegal, in the name of keeping Trump in power. It would also endanger countless election workers and prosecutors across the country.
That is what makes Polis’ refusal to issue a full-throated repudiation baffling.
Bipartisan county clerks have begged him to come out with a strong denial. They have both sent a detailed letter and held a news conference. They have told their stories countless times. Professionals within offices across the state have been subject to threats and harassment since the 2020 presidential election.
For example, last year a man pleaded guilty to threatening Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. In multiple posts he promised to execute Griswold and other election officials, accusing them of compromising voting equipment. If that logic sounds familiar, it should: the series of events that landed Peters in prison were based on her unfounded assertion that voting equipment had been tampered with during the election.
As the clerks pointed out, any leniency toward Peters would only embolden others. They would see a transfer to a minimum-security federal prison as vindication. It would also reduce the deterrent effect for others contemplating following in her footsteps in the future. The 2026 and 2028 elections already promise to be more contentious and dangerous than any in history. Pampering Peters would be like putting out the fire with gasoline.
Prosecutors, including the Republican office holder who successfully brought the case against Peters and the current Colorado Attorney General (who is running to replace Polis), have also made the point clear to Polis. They declared the request an “attempt to bypass our judicial system.”
Yet Polis sits back and lets the Colorado Department of Corrections issue a mealy-mouthed statement that it is “not currently seeking a transfer” for Peters. That is just about as convincing as Trump telling reporters that he has not considered pardoning Maxwell while noting that he is allowed to do so.
Whether Polis is afraid of Trump’s retribution, on himself personally or the state he leads, or whether he has again succumbed to the libertarian bent that has frequently undermined policies favored by his party, his continued silence is harmful. It emboldens enemies of democracy and threatens the very people who do the work to make it function.
Colorado deserves a direct comment from Polis. Does he stand with our state and democracy or does he stand with Peters and people who would undermine it? Until he makes it clear he is with the former, his current position is no better than aligning with the latter.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on BlueSky: @MarioNicolais.bsky.social.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.
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