The state’s ethics commission has decided to proceed with the three ethics complaints filed against former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters.

The ethics complaints against Peters have been on hold because of the recently-concluded criminal trial tied to a security breach with elections equipment at the recorder’s office in 2021. Peters was sentenced to nine years in Mesa County jail and state prison for charges.

She is appealing the decision.

In an order issued on Monday, Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission said that, given that the criminal trial took two and a half years, any further delays would be prejudicial to the complainant, Anne Landman of Grand Junction. 

There’s virtually no overlap between the criminal case and the ethics complaints, the commission said in its order, save for the fact that Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, allegedly made contributions to her legal fund, which is a part of the complaints.

The commission and the public “have a strong interest in expeditious resolution of ethical complaints against public officials,” the commission said.

The commission also noted Peters failed to cite any legal case in favor of staying a civil proceeding during a criminal appeal.

After a two-week trial, Peters was found guilty on Aug. 12 on seven out of 10 charges, including four felonies: three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. She was also convicted of three misdemeanors: first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with an order from the Secretary of State.

She was acquitted of three other charges: an additional count of criminal impersonation, a charge of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and identity theft.

The three ethics complaints, all filed by Landman are: 

• August 2021: The complaint claimed Peters accepted thousands of dollars in services, travel, security and favors from Lindell for a cyber symposium in South Dakota. 

• January 2022: The complaint alleged Peters operated a criminal legal defense fund in violation of the ethics law, specifically, a “violation of the public trust by attempting to realize personal financial gain through her public office.” Secondly, the complaint alleged she was operating the fund in violation of ethics commission guidelines on solicitations and acceptance of funds for defense in criminal actions. Those guidelines require public disclosure of all donations and that the fund cannot be administered by someone directly affiliated with Peters. Landman wrote that Peters was operating the fund in her capacity as an elected official and not as a private citizen. Peters has never disclosed the identity of those donors.

• May 2022: The complaint alleged Peters accepted an $800,000 contribution from Lindell, based on a statement by Lindell in Denver on April 5, 2022. By then, Peters had taken down the “StandWithTina.org” legal defense fund website and moved her fundraising to Lindell’s “Legal Offense Fund,” which is based in another state. 

Lindell told 9News he had put in “3, 4, 5, maybe $800,000 of my own money” into Peters’ legal defense fund. Peters claimed she had no knowledge of Lindell’s contributions, despite numerous occasions when Peters and her allies had urged people to give to Lindell’s fund.

The commission decided earlier this year to hold off on those complaints, pending the criminal trial.

Peters has denied all allegations.

If the commission concludes that Peters violated the state ethics laws and rules, the fines could be the largest in state history.

The commission’s fine structure is to penalize at twice the cost of the un-allowed expenditure, a policy that they’ve imposed in two high-profile cases, against then-Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who represents Peters.

Based on the commission’s precedent for fines, at twice the amount of the donations Peters accepted from Lindell, her fine could be at a minimum $1.6 million, not to mention fines related to the cost of services, travel, security and alleged favors from Lindell, plus the other contributions accepted on her behalf with both the StandWithTina.org website and the Lindell legal defense fund — none of which has ever been publicly disclosed.

A year ago, an administrative law judge found Peters violated state campaign finance laws in two complaints filed by Scott Beilfuss of Grand Junction. She was fined $15,400 for those violations, which had as their basis some of the same issues as found in the ethics complaints. That decision has been appealed to district court, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

No date has been set for a hearing on the complaints. 

“It’s a sad day when you can get away with crimes with bigger crimes,” said Landman, the Grand Junction who filed the ethics complaints.    

She said she applauded the commission’s decision.

“She violated the ethics law with such impunity, to not address it would be a big mistake,” Landman said.

Landman is represented by Jane Feldman, a former ethics commission executive director, and Trey Rogers of Recht Kornfeld, formerly the legal counsel for Gov. Bill Ritter, Jr.