In a written ruling, Mesa County Judge Matthew Barrett revoked a $25,000 cash bond for Tina Peters, the Republican-elected county clerk and recorder, and issued a warrant for her arrest. Court records show Peters left the state without permission, violating the terms of her bond that allowed her early release from jail in March. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Peters’ attorney, Harvey Steinberg, filed court papers later Thursday to block the warrant for her arrest. The motion acknowledged that Peters had been to Las Vegas, Nevada this week to speak at a sheriff’s conference, but claimed she misunderstood court-ordered travel restrictions. In March, Peters was indicted by a Colorado grand jury on election fraud charges stemming from an alleged tampering with Mesa County’s voting equipment and was barred by the Colorado Secretary of State from overseeing elections in the western Colorado county this year. According to the 10-count indictment, which included counts of criminal impersonation, conspiracy, identity theft and official misconduct, Peters gave unauthorized staff access to the county’s election computer server. Two of her deputies have also been criminally charged in the case, which gained national attention in part because Peters outspokenly supported former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him. Peters has denied any wrongdoing and blamed her legal troubles on her political opponents, including Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold, a Democrat. Undeterred by her indictment, Peters sought the Republican nomination to challenge Griswold, who is up for re-election in November. But Peters, who was allowed to travel outside of Colorado while running for state office, lost the Republican primary last month. Investigators learned that Peters had filed a document with Griswold’s office this week requesting a primary recount and had it notarized in Las Vegas. That revelation led Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein to file a motion to revoke Peters’ bond. “Ms. Peters has less incentive to appear in court now that she is no longer a candidate,” Rubinstein wrote. “Furthermore, she has demonstrated through her trip before the election that she has the means to leave if she wants to.” Peter’s defense attorney denied she was a flight risk and argued that he believed she still had permission to travel out of state with 72 hours’ advance notice, as she did during her campaign, and that her failure to provide such notice before going to Las Vegas it was an oversight. Peters was in Las Vegas on July 12 to speak at a symposium on election fraud held by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a conservative group of elected local law enforcement officials and their allies. The criminal investigation into Peters began last year after images of Mesa County voting equipment passwords were on a right-wing blog site. The suspected computer hack was detected during a software update in 2021 and did not involve actual voting or election irregularities, authorities said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver. Editing by Steve Gorman and Daniel Wallis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
