Former clerk, now out of prison, joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office this week

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis fired two members of his clemency advisory board Wednesday for publicly speaking against his decision to free Tina Peters after she was convicted of election-related crimes, his office confirmed to The Denver Post.

Polis removed Hannah Seigel Proff and Azra Taslimi from the advisory board because they “breached the required duty of confidentiality by publicly divulging board members’ votes,” according to letters from Polis reported Wednesday afternoon by the New York Times, which was first to break the news.

Following the 2020 election, Peters, then the Mesa County clerk and recorder, gave a person associated with election-denier Mike Lindell access to Mesa County’s voting system. She was found guilty of four felonies and sentenced in October 2024 to nine years in prison for the crimes.

Polis commuted her sentence in May, arguing that her sentence was “harsher” than people who were also convicted of attempting to influence a public official had received in other circumstances. He also argued that she was being punished for her speech.

He faced swift, pointed criticism from a slew of other Democrats, along with an official censure by the state party. Peters was released June 1.

In mid-June, Seigel Proff and Taslimi, two attorneys on the clemency advisory board, spoke to the media and wrote an opinion piece for The Post questioning Polis’ decision. They wrote that the board unanimously voted twice to recommend denial of clemency for Peters. While Polis ignored the board and freed Peters early, they wrote, he also had a history of ignoring their recommendations to grant clemency to other applicants.

“The problem is not about Tina Peters’ case in isolation,” Siegel Proff and Taslimi wrote. “It is what his decision reveals. That the system bends for some and holds firm against everyone else.”

  • Professorozone@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    14 hours ago

    Ok I’m convinced. The right to grant pardons should not exist. I’m ok with a stay of execution, but that’s it.

  • BigMacHole@thelemmy.club
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    24 hours ago

    We MUST vote BLUE no matter WHO!*

    *UNLESS that Blue wants to LISTEN to Their Constituents and NOT OTHER Rich People!

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      23 hours ago

      Good thing he’s term limited.

      Also, are you pretending a Republican wouldn’t have commuted her sentence on 1/20/25?

        • holy_scroller@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          52 minutes ago

          I feel like I am above average intelligence, and I can’t figure out what they are actually saying. It is a bit confusing.

        • ProIsh@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          15 hours ago

          The imply here, because you didn’t get it, its that a republican is better than having polis in office.

          Polis is dogshit, I’m glad he’s term limited, hopefully we get a better option in here this time. I won’t be voting republican.

    • HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      6
      ·
      15 hours ago

      As much of a piece of shit as this guy is, and he is, he’s objectively doing less harm than any Republican in office rn.

      • Kindness is Punk@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        15 hours ago

        Yep but we really need to put in the work to primary out these people, we need to show the Democrats that these sort of policies and moves have consequences.

        The lesser of two evils trap demoralizes people and makes them think that this is the best we can hope for from a politician but it’s not, We’ve seen a rise of left-wing politicians lately and we can do better.

        We must participate whenever possible and the choices aren’t always great but they do still matter.

        So yes this person is actively doing less damage than the Republican counterpart, and no it isn’t good enough.

        People deserve a world where hope can be a part of it.

      • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        9 hours ago

        So what? What about him or his actions do you find defensible?

        Have you considered that there are people out there who would not only “do less harm than Republicans” but actually do things to help their constituents?

        Stop creating a false dichotomy that we must either be ruled over by extremist Republicans or slightly less evil right-wing Democrats. This is a big country with a lot of people in it who could do a much better job than either of these groups of losers.

        • HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          5 hours ago

          Stating this guy is less harmful than a Republican != This guy is defensible and not harmful.

          Do you think if I told you a single murder is less bad than a massacre, that I’m glazing the idea of murder?

          Maybe drop the childish false dichotomy bullshit.

    • Beetschnapps@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      13
      ·
      edit-2
      20 hours ago

      You MUST fuck off with that mindset.

      What else do you have to offer? “No matter who? “

      Do you have something better to offer other than a shitty slogan to riff on your own pessimism?

      Let me guess you have shit to offer except repeating that whole “no matter who” line…