TIMELINE OF EVENTS
JAN. 3
Tina Peters tweets a conspiracy theory on her private Twitter account relating to 2020 election results.
MAY 23
Peters and others enter a secure area of the Mesa County Elections Division on a Sunday night to make copies of computer hard drives. She repeated that action two days later, after a software upgrade of election equipment. This fact would not come out for several months.
JUNE 19
Bobbie Gross announces she will again challenge Peters for the county clerk position in the 2022 GOP primary.
AUG. 9
Secretary of State announces probe of Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
AUG. 10
Peters appears at a symposium hosted by My Pillow founder Mike Lindell that alleges the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
The 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office executes a search warrant of the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office looking for evidence of a possible breach of elections security.
AUG. 12
Secretary of State Jena Griswold decertifies all of the county’s election equipment.
Peters tells audience at Lindell symposium “I did this for no personal gain. As a matter of fact, my job looks like it’s on the line, but you know what, the people of Mesa County elected me, not the secretary of state.”
AUG. 16
Griswold announces that Peters herself accessed the hard drives of voting machines.
AUG. 16
Ethics complaint filed with the Secretary of State against Peters.
AUG. 17
Griswold names Mesa County Treasurer Sheila Reiner to take charge of the county Elections Division. After some back-and-forth with the county commissioners, Wayne Williams was appointed to oversea the fall elections with Reiner’s assistance.
AUG. 22
After two weeks in hiding, Peters appears on Lindell’s online show claiming her actions were meant to protect the county elections and calling her replacement in the elections office a liberal. She remains in hiding for weeks afterwards.
AUG. 24
Mesa County commissioners publicly plead with Peters’ supporters that she return home to Mesa County.
Commissioners sign contract with Dominion Voting Systems that replaces decertified equipment, protects the county from a defamation lawsuit and runs through 2029.
AUG. 30
Secretary of State files lawsuit to officially remove Peters as the county’s designated election official for the fall election.
SEPT. 1
Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley turns herself in and is advised on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor cyber crimes. The charges came after Knisley continued to access the clerk’s office and have contact with employees despite being placed on paid leave.
SEPT. 14
After several public meetings with voter-fraud conspiracy theorists, county commissioners publicly rebuke claims that Mesa County was at the center of voter fraud.
SEPT. 16
After more than a month in hiding, Peters returns to Grand Junction with a public event at the Appleton Christian Church where she vows to fight back and announces an online donation site for her legal defense fund.
SEPT. 17
Peters turns over an 83-page report to county commissioners that she says proves voter fraud in the 2020 election, but shows no details.
SEPT. 28
Review hearing for Knisley is delayed after her attorney notes that Knisley broke her leg.
OCT. 14
District Judge Valerie Robison rules that Peters and Knisley are barred from conducting fall election.
OCT. 18
Attorneys for Peters file appeal to Robison’s ruling.
OCT. 20
Colorado Supreme Court denies Peters’ appeal.
NOV. 3
Following fall election, Peters claims in emails she could have done a better job running the election she was barred from.
NOV. 5
Emails show Peters attempted to give bonuses to staff but was barred from doing so as County Attorney Todd Starr warned they could be seen as bribes related to ongoing investigations.
State files lawsuit over fundraising issues for Peters’ campaign.
NOV. 10
Sandra Brown, an election manager in Peters’ office, is fired.
NOV. 16
Federal agents execute search warrants in pursuit of evidence related to Peters and possible breaches of election security protocols.
Colorado Independent Ethics Commission unanimously decides to go forward with investigating a complaint that Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters allegedly accepted gifts in excess of state limits in relation to flights and hotel stays for the Lindell voter fraud symposium.
NOV. 17
After Peters makes claims that federal agents busted down her door, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein issue a statement saying Peters’ claims are false.
NOV. 22
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Silt, requests briefing from district attorney on Peters investigation.
DEC. 1
County officials beef up security in various buildings in wake of threats of violence from Peters’ supporters.
DEC. 14
Peters objects to commissioners’ decision to extend a contract for ballot printing on grounds that Williams works for the company in question, even though he recused himself from contract negotiations.
— By Tom Hesse
