Indicted Colorado Election Clerk Says Lauren Boebert Encouraged Her to Commit Crimes

In May of 2021, Tina Peters, a county election clerk in Mesa County, Colorado, was indicted for seven felonies due to a brazen breach of the software utilized by the county’s voting machines, all done in an attempt to demonstrate how the 2020 election was “rigged” and “fraudulent.” Tomorrow, she will find out if, despite the indictment, Colorado Republicans will nominate her as their candidate for Secretary of State. Yesterday, the New York Times published a story in which Peters told the Times that Rep. Lauren Boebert encouraged Peters to go forward with a substantial step in the crime.

According to the NYT:

That network’s involvement is just one of several bizarre plot points in Ms. Peters’s case. The Mesa County breach involved a former surfer who was dressed as a computer “nerd” and made a FaceTime call during the operation, reporting by The New York Times shows. Afterward, the crew shared their loot — images of voting machine data — at a conference streamed online, advertising the effort to thousands. On Friday, Ms. Peters told The Times that her congresswoman, Representative Lauren Boebert, “encouraged me to go forward with the imaging.”

As one might expect, a spokesperson for Boebert’s office called the claim “false.”

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And yet, not only is Peters going forward in an attempt to be Secretary of State, but her crime has made her a national hero amongst the type of crowd that also supports Boebert:

Through it all, Ms. Peters has parlayed the episode into a national political profile on the right, speaking at events across the country where she is celebrated as a hero. Influential election deniers have come to her aid: Mike Lindell, the MyPillow executive who supports a stable of lawyers and researchers promoting bogus theories, says he has funneled as much as $200,000 to Ms. Peters’s legal defense. Others, including Patrick Byrne, a former Overstock executive, have run ads attacking her primary opponent.

Obviously, there is no proof – yet – that Boebert encouraged Peters, and Peters certainly has some credibility issues. It is still an intriguing accusation. The two are from the same area, participate in the same sort of events, and Boebert famously challenged the election while also pronouncing January 6, 2021, as a new “1776.” Boebert wanted that election overturned. It isn’t impossible that Boebert would encourage a county clerk to go forward with plans to make machines look “rigged.”

However, it should be noted that, well before Peters named Boebert, Boebert did reportedly support the district attorney’s investigation even though she would almost have to do so. It would be a blockbuster charge if a sitting member of Congress did encourage a person to engage in seven electoral felonies. It will be interesting to see what Peters might prove.

Jason Miciak

@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact with any concerns.