Colorado Clerk Tina Peters Pleads Not Guilty in Election Security Breach Case

District Judge Matthew Barrett has set Peters’ trial for March 6, 2023.

Peters, who denies the 2020 election, is charged with three felonies of attempting to influence a public official, one count of identity theft, two counts of identity theft, one count of identity theft, and a misdemeanor. It faces 10 counts of action. After an apparent security breach at a Mesa County election office in May 2021, she will be counted for first-class official misconduct, breach of duty, and failure to comply with the requirements of the Colorado Secretary of State. .

Last month, Peters’ deputy secretary, Belinda Knisley, reached a plea bargain with prosecutors in exchange for her cooperation and testimony against Peters. said he had developed a plan to allow unauthorized persons access to secure areas within the clerk’s office and to the county’s election facilities. He said he got access after being given a badge that was created.

The compromise resulted in confidential voting machine logins and hard drive forensic images published on a QAnon-affiliated Telegram channel in early August 2021.