A jury found CO Trumpster Tina Peters guilty — but her legal troubles may not be over

More than three years after Tina Peters took part in a scheme to prove a false theory of fraud in her own elections office, the former Mesa County clerk has been held to account. Peters is Colorado’s most notorious “big lie” believer, and her place in the firmament of MAGA bandits was cemented by national press attention and her association with prominent election conspiracists like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. The state case against Peters, brought by Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, largely focused on her dishonesty, such as when she presented to state election officials the California man, conspiracist Conan Hayes, as Gerald Wood, a Fruita resident who had been approved to enter secure elections areas in Peters’ office. “The compromised sensitive data included images depicting a proprietary hard drive with unlawfully downloaded/imaged software from Mesa County’s election management server’s hard drive.” But while the state prosecution avoided potential culpability related to computer activity in the charges it brought, it can’t be ruled out as the basis for possible federal allegations. What occurred in Peters’ election office can be traced directly back to the early morning hours after Election Day 2020 at the White House, when Trump said, “This is a fraud on the American public … Frankly, we did win this election.” The “big lie” was born at that moment, leading to incalculable legal and political wreckage, including the Jan. 6 insurrection, that will only deepen as the next presidential election approaches.