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There's stupid. And there is really stupid. And then there is Tina Peters.
Peters, you may recall, is the former Mesa County (CO) Clerk who decided to abuse her position to help the "Stop the steal" crew. Specifically, she conspired to give access to the county's voting machines to an associate of MyPillow guy Mike Lindell. Peters did a ham-fisted job of it, got caught redhanded, and went on trial in August, and was convicted.
We obviously don't have any use for these crooked people. Nonetheless, we would say that if you ARE going to engage in chicanery, the time to drop the matter is when you hear "Yeah, I'm a friend of Mike Lindell." Failing that, then wisdom would seem to suggest that you should at least be contrite during your jury trial. And if you can't bring yourself to do that, then at least shut your yap once you've been convicted.
Peters did not do any of these things. She not only participated in the original scam, she was defiant during her trial. And after her conviction, she continued to spread lies and conspiracy theories via both press conferences and social media. District Judge Matthew Barrett was, to say the least, not impressed. And during sentencing yesterday, he decreed: "I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You're as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen. You are no hero. You abused your position and you're a charlatan." The Judge handed down a sentence of 9 years. Given that Peters is 69, that's... a pretty hefty stretch.
We are very glad to see Peters pay a steep price for her crimes. First, because she's obnoxious, and deserves to be punished. Second because it's useful to have a reminder, this close to the election, that: (1) stop the steal shenanigans are hard to get away with, (2) if you get caught, you are at risk of doing hard time, and (3) Donald Trump will never, ever, ever intervene to help you out, not even a little bit. Maybe that will cause a few potential crooked election officials to think twice. (Z)