The FBI joined state and local authorities in reportedly raiding the homes of Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and several associates yesterday as law enforcement agencies continue investigating a voting-machine security breach from Peters' office.
"The FBI carried out a court-ordered search of Peters' home in Mesa County early Tuesday morning, leaving her 'terrified,' Peters said Tuesday night in an appearance on Lindell TV, an online channel run by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump supporter and proponent of discredited claims the 2020 election was stolen," Colorado Politics reported yesterday.
Colorado Politics wrote that federal, state, and local authorities searched the homes of "Peters and three of her associates on Tuesday as part of an investigation into accusations the elected official was involved in voting machine security breaches."
"We executed four federally court-authorized operations today to gather evidence in connection with the investigation into the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office," Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein told the news site. "We did so with assistance from the DA's office from the 21st Judicial District, the attorney general's office and the FBI."
We contacted Rubinstein, the FBI, and the Colorado attorney general's office today and will update this article if we get any more information on the raids and investigation.
(Update, 5:05 pm EST: We received a statement from the Mesa County government, which said: "On the morning of Nov. 16, the FBI conducted federally-authorized law enforcement actions into potential criminal activity by employees of the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office and others associated with those employees. The activity occurred in both Mesa and Garfield Counties at four separate locations. Investigators with the 21st Judicial District Attorney's Office (Mesa County, Colo.) and the Colorado Attorney General's Office assisted in the operations. No arrests were made, and the operations are related to ongoing investigations. Per order of a federal court, all documents related to these operations are sealed.")
“The FBI raided my home”
"The FBI raided my home at 6 a.m. this morning, accusing me of committing a crime," Peters reportedly said on the Lindell channel. "And they raided the homes of my friends, mostly older women. I was terrified." Peters reportedly said the search of her home took about three hours, that her phone and other electronic devices were confiscated, and that law enforcement officers conducting the raid "looked very much like they were in a combat zone—soldiers with automatic weapons and combat gear."
"She added that authorities 'used a battering ram,' destroying the front door of one of her friends' homes," Colorado Politics wrote.
The FBI confirmed in August that it had joined the criminal investigation into the security breach and was working with Mesa County prosecutors on the matter.
One of the homes searched yesterday reportedly belongs to Sherronna Bishop, a Peters supporter who once served as the campaign manager for Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). Bishop's support of the Proud Boys far-right extremist group apparently got her sacked from the Boebert campaign last year.
Cameras disabled to hide Peters’ “wrongful behavior”
Peters, who promoted former President Donald Trump's conspiracy theory that voting machines were manipulated to help Joe Biden win the 2020 election, last month was barred from supervising elections due to the leak of voting-system BIOS passwords to QAnon conspiracy theorist Ron Watkins, which happened under her watch. The October 13 judge's ruling barring Peters from supervising elections explained that she brought a non-employee named Gerald Wood into a meeting about a "trusted build" software update that ensures a secure chain of custody for the voting system.
"Peters was untruthful with the Secretary [of State] and her staff by stating that Gerald Wood was an employee of Mesa County and was an administrative assistance [sic] in her office," Mesa County District Court Judge Valerie Robison wrote. "Peters failed to follow the rules and orders of the Secretary by facilitating and allowing a non-employee (Gerald Wood) without a disclosed background check to have access to a secured area via a Mesa County access card."
Meanwhile, Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley requested that cameras in the Election Department be turned off during the meeting, "ensur[ing] that the wrongful behavior of Peters could not be viewed," the judge wrote. Robison's ruling said that Peters and Knisley both "failed to take adequate precautions to ensure that confidential information would be protected."
After the October 13 ruling, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said that Peters and Knisley "breached their duties and committed wrongful acts." Weiser added that his department "continues its work with the Mesa County District Attorney's Office on the criminal investigation into the alleged elections system security breach in Mesa County."
In August, after the breach, Watkins released photos of information on Dominion's Election Management Systems (EMS) voting machines, including an installation manual and "BIOS passwords for a small collection of computers, including EMS server and client systems," as we reported at the time.
Peters also faces ethics complaint and lawsuit
Peters is also facing an ethics complaint alleging that she "has accepted, and is continuing to accept thousands of dollars worth of services, travel, security and favors from Mr. Lindell in violation of the Colorado Constitution." The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission on Tuesday voted 4-0 that the complaint is "non-frivolous," meaning that the complaint can move forward and "Peters will have at least 30 days to respond before the commission conducts any further investigation," The Denver Post wrote.
"Peters also faces a lawsuit from the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's office over those gifts," Colorado Politics wrote. "The lawsuit, filed with the Office of Administrative Courts, alleged Peters failed to file campaign finance reports, failed to register as a candidate for re-election and accepted donations above the state's legal limit as she continued to solicit contributions for a re-election bid."
In her post-raid appearance on Lindell's show Tuesday, Peters reportedly said she will not give up her attempt to prove the baseless conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from Trump.
"I feel that if I was to give up now, I would be giving up on our country... They want to shut me up, shut me out, prosecute me, do whatever they can to villainize and demonize me just to cover up their dirty deeds," she said, according to Colorado Politics. "I can't unsee what I've seen."
