GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Early Tuesday morning the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at four locations in western Colorado.
According to Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, the state attorney general’s office and local authorities conducted the searches Tuesday in Mesa and Garfield Counties. The court-ordered search was part of an investigation of alleged election security breaches conducted by Mesa County officials.
Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters did confirm her home was searched. A statement was released from her legal defense fund early Wednesday morning stating, “Today large teams of heavily armed federal agents, using a battering ram to break down doors, raided the homes of Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and several of her friends and colleagues, mostly elderly women in their mid 60s. This is a level of weaponization of the Justice Department we haven’t seen since the McCarthy era. Thank God Tina wasn’t protesting critical race theory at a Virginia school board meeting or they might have brought two battering rams.”
Tuesday night Peters did appear on Lindell TV, a channel ran by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to speak about the raid. According to
Colorado Politics, Peters also spoke on Lindell’s channel saying, “The FBI raided my home at 6 a.m. this morning, accusing me of committing a crime. And they raided the homes of my friends, mostly older women. I was terrified.” She continued by saying authorities searched her house for “about three hours” and “took all of my electronics,” including her phone. She went on to say, “You know, I refuse to give up. I’m more scared than ever because of the tactics they are doing for an innocent person who was just doing her job.”
According to
9News, Lindell said Garfield County resident Sherronna Bishop, Lauren Boebert’s former campaign manager, also had her home searched on Tuesday. We have reached out for comment but have not heard back at this time.
Peters and her associates are being investigated for an alleged security breach involving elections equipment in Mesa County earlier this year. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office is conducting an internal investigation of Peters, as well as the FBI, 21st Judicial District Attorney’s office, and the Colorado Attorney General’s office who are conducting a criminal investigation of Peters.
Wednesday afternoon, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and 21st Judicial District Attorney Dan Rubinstein released the following statement:
“Yesterday, the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office—along with our FBI partners—conducted authorized enforcement actions in support of an ongoing investigation into the alleged election system breach in Mesa County. We have reviewed a statement from Tina Peters’ legal defense fund that claims a level of force during the execution of this joint federal-state law enforcement operation. At no time was force used on Ms. Peters or her home. Ms. Peters was allowed to move around her home and fix herself breakfast while agents gathered items before departing. We are issuing this statement to clear up inaccuracies about what occurred during yesterday’s enforcement action. We will continue to conduct a thorough investigation based on facts and the law, including using proper law enforcement tools such as the judicially authorized search that was executed properly in this matter.”
