Looks like Tina Peters might get a golden parachute: A far-right group recently tried to raise money to send the local Colorado election clerk around the country spreading the Big Lie.
Peters, the Mesa County clerk under indictment for alleged election security breaches in her office, did not seek re-election and lost her bid for the GOP nomination to be Colorado’s secretary of state.
What’s a soon-to-be out-of-work, criminally charged election official to do? A nationwide speaking tour to tout the Big Lie, of course!
“[W]e’re looking forward to contracting with her right after the first of the year to go out and speak on the same thing she’s speaking about now, when she’s not an elected official any longer,” Americans for America Regina Thomson told the Colorado Times Reporter.
It’s unclear how much money they raised for Peters’s contract, and it may just end up a hopeful pet project. Peters told the outlet that she knew nothing about the planned contract.
Last week, Peters attended screenings for a documentary that she starred in called “Selection Code.” The hour-long film, with an ominous Left Behind-esque synopsis, argues that both the 2020 election and a local municipal election back in 2021 were rigged against conservatives.
The screenings were sponsored by two Colorado-based right-wing organizations: Colorado Christian University and the Independence Institute. But Americans for America (A4A), a third organization with openly anti-Muslim sentiments, collected money to fund a hoped-for contract to send Peters across the country spreading the Big Lie through talks and seminars.
A4A’s website gives you a glimpse into their underlying ideology: The organization boasts partnerships with Understanding the Threat, another far-right group that accuses the Council on American Islamic relations of operating on behalf of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, and with Katie Hopkins, the British media personality most known for hating on trans people, immigrants, and Meghan Markle.
The group was founded by former Colorado State Senate President John Andrews, who also had some unfavorable views towards Muslims, including that a “good and faithful Muslim” can’t also be a “good and faithful American.”
Thomson, the group’s president, told the local outlet: “She’s one of our upcoming projects to go out and speak on election integrity. “It’s all legal and above board, it’s just that we don’t want her to have a target on her back any bigger than she does until she’s out of office.”
Peters is scheduled to face trial next year on the state election security charges. She also faces civil contempt of court charges. Meanwhile, a federal investigation related to the election security breaches is also underway, and has snared alleged co-conspirators like the MyPillow guy, Mike Lindell.
Peters has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in the state criminal case.
