Colorado AG alleges Trump 'revenge campaign' over state's refusal to free elections clerk

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser amended a federal lawsuit saying the administration cut programs and funding after the state refused demands to free convicted elections clerk Tina Peters; the filing asks a judge to declare that Colorado's sovereign powers were violated.

Colorado's attorney general amended a federal lawsuit to allege that recent federal actions were retaliatory after the state declined requests to free a convicted elections official. The filing links a series of federal decisions and orders to that refusal and asks a U.S. court to rule on whether Colorado's sovereign powers were violated. The suit follows earlier litigation by the state over the relocation of U.S. Space Command and other federal moves Colorado officials have criticized. The matter remains before federal and state courts. Key facts: - Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser amended a federal lawsuit alleging the administration reduced programs and funding in response to Colorado's refusal to accede to demands to free Tina Peters. - The filing seeks a judicial declaration that those federal actions violated the Constitution's guarantee of state sovereignty. - Tina Peters was convicted in Colorado state court; President Trump issued a symbolic pardon that does not apply to state crimes, and her attorneys are due in a state appeals court next week as they seek to overturn her conviction. Summary: The amended lawsuit frames recent federal decisions as coercive measures tied to Colorado's refusal to free a state-convicted elections official and to the state's mail-in voting practices. The case asks U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson to rule on the sovereignty claim, and Peters' legal team is scheduled to appear in state appeals court next week.