MaddowBlog-Colorado's Polis faces bipartisan pushback after commuting Tina Peters' sentence

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The governor had plenty of time to come up with a defense for his decision. The fact that he pitched transparent nonsense points to an awkward conclusion.

Colorado’s Jared Polis had plenty of time to come up with a coherent defense for his Tina Peters decision.

The fact that he pitched transparent nonsense suggests that he really did succumb to Trump’s extortion efforts, but he’s reluctant to say so.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-18T19:41:34.610Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/colorado-jared-polis-tina-peters-backlash

At the outset, for example, Polis, who’s nearing the end of his second and final term, said Peters “did not commit any crimes regarding the 2020 elections.” When I heard this, I initially thought he simply misspoke, but he proceeded to repeat the claim several additional times in the same interview.

This was quite odd. The whole point of Peters’ crimes was that she was trying to substantiate false and conspiratorial claims about the 2020 election. For the governor to repeatedly tell a national television audience that her crimes were entirely unrelated to the 2020 race was bizarre.

But then he went further, telling Collins:

[Peters] has very strange beliefs. She’ll probably continue to have them. We don’t punish people in this country for having strange beliefs. … And that’s what happened here because, of her speech and what she believes, which I vehemently disagree with, and I share the passion and the emotions that so many people feel, who are outraged by the words she says. But the place to resolve those differences is by debate, by discourse, by arguing with her, with by disputing her. Not for keeping her behind bars, simply because of what she believes or says.

I don’t understand what it is that the governor doesn’t understand. No one has ever suggested that Peters should be imprisoned because of her very strange beliefs. Rather, many in both parties have argued that Peters should be held accountable because of all the felonies she committed.

This isn’t complicated. Conspiracy theorists are free to believe what they wish. It’s a free country. But when officials start using their offices to violate the public trust, literally breaking laws to advance their conspiracy theories, that’s qualitatively different....

Peters had her day in court and presented a defense. She also showed no remorse for all the felonies she committed. Her conviction, secured by a Republican prosecutor, was a no-brainer.

Polis had plenty of time to come up with a defense for his decision. The fact that he pitched transparent nonsense suggests that he really did succumb to Donald Trump’s extortion efforts, though the governor was reluctant to say so.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Listen to the judge at Tina Peters' trial gave a searing condemnation of her crimes and behavior in Court.

Link to tweet

[Celerity]

2. Polis was yet another centrist No Labels Problem Solvers Caucus member whilst he was in the US House.

The more of that type you elect, instead of electing less conservative and/or less centrist types, (and then especially the more of those centrist types who are elevated to higher office), the worse off, on balance, our party becomes, IMHO.

[mcar]

3. Did he think that wouldn't happen?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. MaddowBlog-JD Vance points to Tina Peters as someone deserving of a taxpayer-financed check

The vice president’s comments reinforced concerns that the new fund exists to send taxpayer money to Donald Trump’s favorite criminals.

JD Vance’s argument that Tina Peters deserves a taxpayer-financed check confirms what seemed obvious:

The new slush fund is a vehicle to send money to Trump’s favorite criminals.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-20T15:54:42.728Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/jd-vance-points-to-tina-peters-as-someone-deserving-of-a-taxpayer-financed-check

It’ll be a while before Americans learn who, exactly, will get checks from the Trump administration’s $1.7 billion fund, but JD Vance pointed to someone specific whom he sees as worthy of a taxpayer-financed check.

JD Vance cites Tina Peters as an example of someone who's receive a payout from Trump's new taxpayer-funded J6 slush fund

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-05-19T17:50:56.920Z

“Tina Peters is this woman who is about to get out of prison, thanks in large part to [Donald Trump’s] good work in Colorado,” the vice president told reporters at a White House briefing. “This is a woman who, at worst, if you believe everything that the prosecutor said about her, committed misdemeanor trespassing and somebody threw the book at her.”

...But to fully appreciate the inanity of Vance’s pitch, we have to dig deeper. To hear the vice president tell it, Peters is entitled to “some compensation” from a so-called anti-weaponization fund (condemned by critics as a “slush fund”) because of the way she was treated during the Biden administration.

What the vice president either didn’t know or didn’t acknowledge, however, was that the Biden administration had literally nothing to do with Peters’ case: The Coloradan faced state charges, in a state court. Her indictment was brought by a state prosecutor (who, incidentally, is a Republican). She was sentenced by a state judge and sent to a state prison. Her sentence was ultimately commuted by her state’s governor (who, incidentally, is a Democrat).

That Peters would get a check from the federal government, from a fund ostensibly created to address federal abuses, reinforces rather obvious concerns that this fund has nothing to do with righting wrongs and everything to do with sending taxpayer money to Trump’s favorite criminals.