LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that he had granted a pardon to Tina Peters, a former Colorado county election official serving a nine-year prison sentence for orchestrating a breach of her county's election system.
Colorado state officials, however, immediately rejected the move as unconstitutional, setting the stage for a clash over the limits of presidential power in the U.S. federal system.
Peters, 70, was convicted in Colorado state court in August 2024 on charges including criminal impersonation and attempting to influence public officials. She was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2024 at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo, Colorado. Prosecutors said Peters sought unauthorized access to election computer systems in Mesa County, Colorado, in 2021.
In announcing the pardon, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday that Peters "simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest" and was "sitting in a Colorado prison for the 'crime' of demanding Honest Elections."
"Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!" Trump's post read.
After local news outlets questioned whether a presidential pardon could be formally announced on a social media platform, Peter Ticktin, Peters' Florida-based attorney, shared the pardon document with the Colorado Newsline website on Friday.
The document, which appeared to be dated Dec. 5, said it grants "a full and unconditional pardon" for "those offenses she has or may have committed or taken part in related to election integrity and security during the period January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021."
The announcement has raised fundamental questions about the division of power in the United States. Under the U.S. federal system, criminal justice authority is divided between the federal government and the 50 states. The U.S. Constitution provides that the president may pardon offenses "against the United States," which legal experts say refers to federal crimes only.
Peters was prosecuted and convicted entirely under Colorado state law, not federal law. Colorado officials therefore argued that the U.S. president has no constitutional authority to pardon someone convicted of state crimes, a power that belongs exclusively to state governors.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in a written statement on Thursday, "No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions. This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders."
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the pardon "has no precedent in American law" and "would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires."
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Trump's action was an "assault" on states' rights and the American Constitution. "Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon her," Griswold said.
The American Bar Association (ABA) also said that "a president cannot pardon someone for a state crime."
"A U.S. president has broad but not unlimited powers to pardon. For example, a president cannot pardon someone for a state crime. And constitutional experts are divided on whether a president can pardon him- or herself," the ABA said on its website.
Ticktin, however, told Colorado Newsline that the pardon was necessary to compel Colorado to free Peters.
According to a report from Colorado Newsline, Ticktin applied to the Trump administration last month for a pardon and followed up last week with a letter to Trump. In the letter, he argued that the president "has the power to grant a pardon in any of the states of the United States."
Peters remained imprisoned and had not been released as of Saturday despite Trump's announcement. Ticktin said he expects the matter to ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. If such a case reaches the court, it could result in the first judicial ruling directly addressing whether a president has any authority to pardon state crimes. ■