All the while, Trump continued to post about Peters’ cause on Truth Social, specifically targeting Polis, whom he targeted. called “the SLEAZEBAG Governor of Colorado” on December 3. On New Year’s Eve, Trump wrote Truth Social: “It’s hard to say thank you (Peters) and Happy New Year, but to the Scumbag Governor and the disgusting “Republican” (RINO!) DA … I wish them the worst. May they rot in Hell. TINA PETERS IS FREE!” (Trump has posted about Peters’ cause eight times on Truth Social in the past nine months.)

At that time, Peters’ legal team, led by Peter Ticktin, who attended the New York Military Academy with Trump, put the work to work. On December 7, Ticktin sent nine page letter to Trump outlining his client’s case and apologizing. Four days later, on December 11, Trump wrote Truth Social: “Today I grant Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election.” Although Trump does not have the power to pardon those convicted in state cases, Ticktin admitted his client applied it.

Peters’ legal team applied for clemency from the governor. While Polis initially didn’t seem to entertain the idea, in recent weeks he hinted that he was considering commuting his sentence, which he labeled “harsh.”

“You look at each clemency case on the merits,” Polis told CBS recently. “There’s a man who’s not violent, a first-time offender, old man. On the other hand, does he accept full responsibility for his crime? We’re not looking at it in isolation.”

Polis’ possible change of heart has many in Colorado confused. Earlier this month, Griswold, along with a Colorado county clerk and the director of the state clerks association, Polis sent a letter urging him not to commute Peters’ sentence.

“I don’t believe that giving in to a vindictive president stops retaliation,” Griswold told WIRED. “Trump is a lawless president. He ignores the law, he ignores the Constitution, and if the people don’t sigh, he will start taking revenge.

“Donald Trump and I have known each other since we were 15 years old,” Ticktin told WIRED, adding that he spoke to the president about the case directly but said that Trump’s actions were not about revenge: “By Governor Polis standing up against Donald Trump for something that was unjust, he drew more attention to the state and caused the state to be viewed by Donald Trump.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about whether Trump was conducting a retaliatory campaign against Colorado, but instead provided a list of reasons why each action was taken—even including responses to two issues not raised by WIRED: child care funding and disaster relief.

Election clerks around Colorado have been meeting to discuss a possible pardon for Peters and after an online meeting this month, all but one of the members of the Colorado County Clerks Association agreed with the wording of the letter Griswold sent to Polis.