A California county's move to hire a convicted election felon and MAGA ally as an elections consultant has stunned two prominent attorneys.
Shasta County registrar Clint Curtis announced this month that he intends to bring on Tina Peters, the former Colorado election official convicted in 2024 of breaching voting equipment, according to attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian. The two lawyers marveled at the arrangement during a Wednesday episode of Legal AF's Civil Action podcast.
"Convicted felons don't usually get rehired to work near the scene of the crime unless, I guess, the crime scene is an election office and the crime was election integrity," Karnikian said.
Peters "orchestrated unauthorized access to election facilities and election records and Dominion voting systems in 2021," Karnikian noted. The scheme included "disabling security cameras" and letting an outside operative copy hard-drive images from the Mesa County election office.
The operative in question was former pro surfer Conan Hayes, "who was tied directly to Mike Lindell," Karnikian added. He called the incident "espionage-level election interference stuff."
Kabateck pointed out that Peters was "sentenced to an incredible nine years in prison" before Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) commuted her sentence after 20 months.
"Trump tried to pardon her, not remembering that the Constitution doesn't give him permission to pardon people convicted of state crimes," Kabateck said. "So his pardon was absolutely meaningless."
Karnikian said officials at first wanted to bring Peters on as an assistant registrar before they "walked it back to a consultant role because people probably pointed out all the legal and PR issues." He noted Curtis is a "lame duck" who finishes his term in January 2027 after losing his reelection primary.
The staff job would require a background check, Kabateck noted, adding that Peters "might have a problem" clearing it. The consulting role would still likely need her in California too, Kabateck said.
"She's on parole, which may not allow her to leave the state of Colorado," Kabateck said. "What could possibly go wrong?"