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Friday, May 22, 2026

Did JD Vance say that Tina Peters deserves a federal payout?

Cassis Tingley, The Colorado Sun
yes

Vice President JD Vance recently told reporters he thought it was “reasonable” that Tina Peters “get some compensation” from the taxpayer-supported Anti-Weaponization Fund, incorrectly saying she was only guilty of trespassing. 

A jury convicted Peters, the former Mesa County clerk, of four felonies and three misdemeanors in 2024 for orchestrating a security breach of Mesa County’s election system in a failed bid to find evidence of voter fraud. 

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Gov. Jared Polis to release Peters. Trump later withheld federal funding for Colorado water infrastructure, after vowing to take “harsh measures” against the state if she wasn’t released. Polis commuted her nine-year sentence May 15.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund is drawing $1.776 billion from the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund as part of a private settlement between Trump and the IRS. The new fund’s stated purpose is to pay people who’ve “suffered weaponization and lawfare.”

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