Colorado county clerk Tina Peters indicted in voting system breach

A Colorado grand jury has indicted Tina Peters, the county clerk and recorder in Mesa County, on charges related to an election system security breach in her office.

Peters, a Republican candidate for Colorado secretary of state, is a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and has touted baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. An investigation into Peters' office started after the Colorado secretary of state's office discovered private voting system information on conservative websites, CBS Denver reports.

According to the indictment, Peters and her deputy clerk, Belinda Knisley, helped an unauthorized individual gain access to a secure area of her office, where they were able to make copies of voting machine hard drives.

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Peters has been charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count each of conspiracy to commit attempting to influence a public servant; criminal impersonation; conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation; identity theft; first-degree official misconduct; violation of duty; and failing to comply with the secretary of state.

Knisley was charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count each of conspiracy to commit attempting to influence a public servant, violation of duty, and failing to comply with the secretary of state.

Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein said the members of the grand jury were "randomly selected by the same pool that elected Tina Peters and they were chosen months before many of these things happened. It was very important to me that this be investigated by a grand jury, rather than it be me deciding whether or not there's probable cause that she committed crimes. I wanted to make sure that this was citizens."