Democratic Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado gave his "clearest sign yet" that he will grant clemency to one of President Donald Trump's allies, according to one analyst.
In a post on X, Polis compared the case of Tina Peters, a convicted former county clerk who is serving nine years for participating in a security breach that resulted in her county's election data being leaked to Trump allies, to another case in Colorado, where a Democratic lawmaker, state senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis, was convicted of multiple felonies for forging letters of support during an ethics investigation and received no jail time.
"She made a horrible mistake, and she was wrong. I hope she learns from this and can rebuild her life," Polis wrote. "As someone who has known Sonya as a friend for many years, on a personal level, I was glad to hear she isn’t going to prison, which is a hard place for anyone, no less a retired 68-year-old pharmacist."
"But it is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters — attempting to influence a public official — and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first-time offender, got a nine-year sentence," Polis added. "Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law."
Polis added that he extended the deadline for clemency applications to April 3, giving Peters' lawyers more time to file the official paperwork.
Local journalist Kyle Clark with 9News posted on X that Polis' statement was the "strongest signal yet" that Polis will grant clemency to Peters.
Polis is term-limited and will leave office after the November election.
Trump has been pressuring Polis for months to release Peters, going so far as to "pardon" Peters in a post on Truth Social, even though the presidential pardon power does not extend to state crimes. He has also repeatedly talked about Peters' case in the national media.
