DENVER (KDVR) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch denied former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ motion to dismiss or halt a criminal trial against her, scheduled to begin July 31 in Grand Junction.
The associate justice, who handles emergency appeals in Colorado, denied her application for an injunction without comment.
Peters’ attorneys argued that she was told by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to perform a software update on their election management system. The update would overwrite records of the 2020 general election, which Peters and her attorneys claim would violate federal law.
Peters said she arranged for a consultant to copy the server data, creating hard drive copies. Prosecutors have alleged the hard drive contents were then shared online in an effort to uncover any election conspiracies that former President Donald Trump promoted.
Peters claimed in a counter-suit against the state that as the chief election officer for Mesa County, she should be immune from prosecution. She said her actions were taken to preserve election records.
Prosecutors also say that Peters used someone else’s name to “further her criminal scheme.” Peters is facing many charges related to a security breach at the county’s election office in 2021, including:
Three counts of attempt to influence a public servant
Two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation
One count of criminal impersonation
One count of identity theft
One count of first-degree official misconduct
One count of violation of duty
One count of Failure to comply with Secretary of State requirements
Peters pleaded not guilty to all the charges on Sept. 7, 2022, and has contended that the charges are politically motivated. In the filing presented to the Supreme Court, Peters argued that cybersecurity professionals reviewed forensic images of the election records and “confirmed that election records of the 2020 presidential election had been deleted and that unexpected databases had been created, which masked the results of ballot tabulation from election officials.”
She said the cybersecurity experts’ reports were then presented to the Mesa Board of County Commissioners, where she said she raised concerns about election vulnerability and whether the county’s voting system should be used in the future. The board took no action, and Peters continued to speak publicly about her concerns about using computerized vote tabulation.
Two former clerks have both pleaded guilty in deals that require them to testify against Peters in the case.
