Colorado clerk Tina Peters pleads not guilty in election security breach case

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

(CNN)Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who lost the GOP nomination for Colorado secretary of state earlier this year, pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges Wednesday afternoon, six months after a county grand jury indicted her following an election security breach investigation by local authorities.

Peters, a 2020 election denier, faces 10 counts -- including three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony account of criminal impersonation, two felony counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one felony count of identity theft, and misdemeanor counts for first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with requirements of the Colorado secretary of state -- after an apparent security breach in Mesa County's elections office in May 2021.

Last month, Peters' deputy clerk, Belinda Knisley, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for her cooperation and testimony against Peters. According to the signed plea deal, Knisley told investigators that Peters created a scheme that permitted an unauthorized person access to secure areas inside the clerk's office and to the county's election equipment. Knisley told investigators the individual gained access after he was given a badge fraudulently created by herself and Peters.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/politics/tina-peters-pleads-not-guilty-colorado/index.html

[crickets]

1. Doesn't look like things are going to go well for Tina Peters.

She chose her path. smh.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

2. I say good that she pled not guilty.

Now, everything will come out. Throw the book at her and hopefully she'll be found guilty and serve some hard time.

These shitbags need to be shown that messing around with the election process carries serious consequences.

[crickets]

4. True, and it lessens the likelihood of any lenience on her sentencing. nt

[moniss]

3. It would be interesting to

know just how much the money people and Gooliani/Powell etc. were involved with her prior to the actual breach.

[Martin68]

5. Prosecute her to the full extent of the law. Election fraud must be stamped out wherever it raises

its ugly head.

[kwolf68]

6. I hate these people

Running around yelling election fraud while trying to steal elections, throw out votes, disenfranchise voters, fake electors, pressuring SoS to "find votes", scamming, lying. Just a bunch of Republican bullshit. Then when they get caught they go "what me? now way". The Party of Personal Responsibility and upstanding morals strikes again.

I can't believe that party has the favor it does in this nation. Totally sad.

[FSogol]

10. +1 Exactly. n/t

[jmowreader]

7. EVERYONE should plead Not Guilty even if they were caught in the act

It is your absolute right to plead Not Guilty.

Having said that, Tina Peters has pissed off so many people in her time in office and committed so many crimes, they're going to have a hell of a time finding someone who will vote to acquit on all ten charges. They might have a very hard time finding someone who'll vote to acquit on any of them.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

8. I have a daughter who lives in Colorado Springs who tells me

that Tina is not very well liked statewide, as evidenced by the trouncing she received in the SoS primary.
Of course there are pockets of RWNJ's who adore her, but they are in the minority.

She's going to do hard time, especially now that her co-defendant has flipped and agreed to testify against her.

Buh Bye Tina, hope you enjoy your new digs.

[jmowreader]

9. IIRC she's the one who inflicted Lauren Boebert on the nation

[FakeNoose]

11. It seems that Colorado conservatives have their own brand of craziness

They aren't necessarily ChumpHumpers, even though there are lots of those too. There are some weird kind of gun-toting survivalist cults living out west in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana that stay below the radar. Until they don't.