This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Vice President JD Vance believes former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters would be eligible to receive a taxpayer-funded settlement from the newly announced "anti-weaponization" fund.
During a White House press briefing on Tuesday, Vance defended the $1.776 billion fund that could be tapped for payouts for those who claim they were victims of unwarranted prosecutions or investigations.
Vance used Peters as an example of someone who might seek compensation.
“This is a woman who, at worst, if you believe everything that the prosecutor said about her, committed misdemeanor trespassing and somebody threw the book at her,” Vance said, inaccurately describing the conviction against Peters and the length of her sentence. “Was that fair? No. Is it reasonable for her to get some compensation for the fact that she was treated unfairly? I think the answer is Yes.”
Peters was found guilty by a jury of her peers of 4 felonies and 3 misdemeanors in her role in helping a man gain access to her county’s voting equipment during a secure update in 2021. The voting machine’s passwords and hard drive were later posted online by those who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen. She was later sentenced to nine years in state prison, but was expected to be re-sentenced until Gov. Jared Polis commuted her sentence last week.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund in front of a Senate committee on Tuesday, and did not rule out that January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers who get compensation if “they believe they were a victim of weaponization.”
There’s still not much known about who would serve on the fund and how decisions on payouts would be made. Peters was found guilty of state crimes, not federal, so it’s unclear if she, too, would be eligible.
The fund was part of a Justice Department settlement that dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit President Trump filed against the IRS, an agency his administration oversees, over the leak of his tax returns years ago. The department said the fund would allow the DOJ to settle and pay cases.
