Judge Savages ‘Charlatan’ Pro-Trump Election Official Sentenced to Nine Years In Prison: ‘You Lie As Easy As It Is For You To Breathe’

Judge Matthew Barrett pulled no punches when sentencing former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peterson Thursday after she was convicted on seven felony counts for election tampering during the 2020 election.

Peters, a pro-Trump Republican and one-time hero of the MAGA right, continued to push the roundly debunked claim that voter fraud caused Donald Trump to lose re-election in 2020. “I’ve never done anything with malice to break the law. I’ve only wanted to serve the people of Mesa County,” Peters told the court as she sparred with Judge Barrett throughout the trial .

Peters was indicted in March 2022 and convicted in August for her role in allowing an unauthorized person, later linked to MyPillow’s Mike Lindell , to tamper with election equipment during the 2020 presidential election while serving as Mesa County’s Clerk and Recorder.

Peters’s conviction stemmed from her participation in a plot to break into election machines under her supervision and copy data from them to prove fraud — instead voter information from the machines appeared online in August 2021, published in part by QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theorists like Ron Watkins .

Barrett slammed Peters for continuing to promote the false election claims during the trial and accused her of betraying her oath of office for celebrity. “Your reputation at this point is poor because of what you’ve done here and after. Your lies are well documented and these convictions are serious,” he began, adding:

I’m convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen. There are many things in my mind that are crystal clear about this case. You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again.

This is nonsense! Our system of government can’t function when people in government think that somehow, someway, the power they’ve been given is absolute in all respects. And that’s where you fell. You have no respect for the checks and balances of government. You have no respect for this court. You have no respect for law enforcement. At the end of the day, you cared about the jets, the podcast and the people fawning over you.

You abdicated your position as a servant to the Constitution and you chose you over all else. Yes, you are a charlatan and you cannot help but lie as easy it is for you to breathe.

Watch the clip above.