Trump pushes for release of convicted Colorado election official amid disaster aid dispute
President Trump publicly demanded the freedom of Tina Peters, a Colorado election official sentenced to nearly nine years for tampering with voting machines, linking his calls to the state's denied disaster assistance.
Tina Peters, once Mesa County's top elections official, was found guilty by a Colorado jury of several felonies and misdemeanors after she allowed unauthorized access to secure voting machines and shared proprietary data. Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced her to nearly nine years in prison. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for her release, claiming she is a political hostage and threatening "harsh measures" if Colorado does not comply.
The controversy intensified after the Trump administration denied federal disaster aid for the 2025 Lee wildfire that devastated Kathleen Kelly's ranch and later withheld $109 million in transportation funding and threatened to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Colorado officials, including Attorney General Phil Weiser and Governor Jared Polis, have accused the president of using aid decisions as leverage and have sued the administration, while some federal funds for water projects have recently been unfrozen.
Why it matters
The case shows how election misconduct and federal aid can become entangled in high-level political retaliation.
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