Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and her deputy, Belinda Knisley, turned themselves in to authorities Wednesday afternoon at the county sheriff's department hours after prosecutors released a 13-count grand jury indictment alleging the pair took part in a "deceptive scheme" to breach secure voting equipment, officials said.
Peters, a Republican candidate for Colorado secretary of state who was elected in 2018 as Mesa County's chief election officer, faces seven felony and three misdemeanor charges, including attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, identity theft and first-degree official misconduct. Knisley, her alleged co-conspirator, is charged with four felonies and two misdemeanors.
At press time, both were being held on court-ordered cash bonds set at $500,000.
Peters has maintained her innocence from the start and on Wednesday dismissed the charges as part of a politically motivated attempt by officials from both parties to muzzle supporters of former President Donald Trump.
The charges stem from multiple investigations that began last summer when state election officials discovered secure passwords linked to the county's voting equipment posted on right-wing websites dedicated to promoting Trump's unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Days later, exact digital copies of the Dominion Voting Systems election management software used by the county also appeared online.
Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a joint statement on Wednesday that their investigation into the security breach is ongoing and that more people could be charged.
In addition, the FBI is investigating allegations that could include wire fraud and cybercrime charges stemming from the incident, which brought national attention to Peters when she appeared at a symposium sponsored by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and then spent weeks in hiding after claiming she'd received death threats for attempting to expose insecure election systems.
Peters is also facing a contempt of court citation and obstruction charges stemming from allegations she used an iPad to record court proceedings in a criminal case involving Knisley, who was suspended from her job last summer and faces related felony burglary and misdemeanor cybercrime charges.
In a statement issued by her campaign late Wednesday, Peters blasted Secretary of State Jena Griswold, the Democrat she hopes to unseat in the fall, and Rubinstein, a Republican she derided as a "self-described never-Trumper," saying the two "have been united in their opposition to conservative activists within the Republican Party who continue to demand more transparency in Colorado’s elections process."
Said Peters: "Using legal muscle to indict political opponents during an election isn't new strategy, but it's easier to execute when you have a district attorney who despises President Trump and any constitutional conservative like myself who continues to demand all election evidence be made available to the public."
Peters went on to suggest that the indictments were part of a scheme by Democrats and establishment Republicans to boost a less formidable GOP candidate to run against Griswold in the fall.
"But a grand jury is one of the last cards the Democrats have to play here," she said. "They hope to influence voters enough with indictments and arrests and media drama during the primaries, to elect a weaker general election opponent for Secretary of State Jena Griswold.” She added that "knowledgeable Republican voters in this June’s primary will eye-roll at these trumped-up charges. They are little more than political theatre designed to pick the primary winner."
Two other Republicans, former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson and economic development specialist Mike O'Donnell, are also running for secretary of state. Anderson has defended Colorado's election system as secure and made clear that she disagrees with Peters's contentions that the 2020 election was somehow rigged.
Peters also roundly rejected a suggestion released earlier in the day by the Colorado Republican Party's three statewide officers that she suspend her campaign amid her mounting legal challenges.
Taking aim at state GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown, Peters called the party's statement "ill-advised" and said voters should disregard her "knee-jerk overreaction."
“If every conservative Republican followed Brown’s opinion and suspended their campaigns each time the Democrat-controlled power structure accused them of something, then we would never have any real Republican candidates left running," Peters said.
