Key witness takes stand in Colorado elections security breach trial
Gerald Wood, a key witness, testified in the Tina Peters trial Friday.
It was day three of the trial in Grand Junction, where two Mesa County election workers, a former human resources director for the county, and the operations manager for Mesa County also testified against Peters.
Peters has been charged with seven felonies and three misdemeanors related to an elections office security breach in May 2021, when she was serving as Mesa County’s clerk and recorder.
Wood is the person whose identity Peters allegedly stole to allow an unauthorized person access to a secure room in Peters’ elections office, where copies of passwords were made and subsequently posted online.
Mesa County Elections Director Brandi Bantz testified that she was uncomfortable while attending a meeting at the elections office on April 23, 2021. The meeting was attended by Bantz, elections administrator Stephanie Wenholz, Peters, backend elections manager Sandra Brown, Peters’ friend and prominent election denier Sherronna Bishop, and Douglas Frank, an Ohio math teacher on the payroll of election denier and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
With jury selection and opening statements, Tina Peters’ criminal trial is underway
Bantz told jurors that those attending the meeting discussed theories such as voter fraud and how they could prove fraud, and voter registration inflation. At one point during the meeting, Peters asked Bantz and Wenholz to leave the meeting while they continued their discussion. They were instructed to attend a mandatory presentation by Frank that evening at the DoubleTree Hotel in Grand Junction.
“It was hard to hear,” Bantz testified. “I didn’t like being there. I had been taught to be nonpartisan. I didn’t want people to think I supported those theories.”
Wood used to be a Peters supporter and is a former member of the far-right group Stand For The Constitution. He offered an alibi when defense attorney John Case insinuated he knew about the scheme to try and prove Mesa County’s Dominion Voting Systems elections machines are somehow corrupt. Case questioned why Wood signed an immunity agreement with the government as a condition for testifying.
Mesa County operations manager Lhana Jordan also testified, as did Brenda Moore, former Mesa County human resources director.
In 2022, a Mesa County grand jury charged Peters, a Republican, with three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, three felony counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and one felony count of identity theft. She also faces three misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, elections violations and failure to comply with the Colorado secretary of state’s office — all stemming from her attempt to find irregularities with election equipment in her own elections office.
If convicted on all counts, Peters could face up to 20 years in a state prison and be fined millions of dollars. She pleaded not guilty on all counts, saying the charges are politically motivated.
The trial resumes Monday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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