STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Some other news now - a former county clerk in western Colorado has been found guilty of seven charges for her involvement in giving an unauthorized person access to election equipment. She was found not guilty on some other counts. Colorado Public Radio's Bente Birkeland has been covering the case.
BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: Colorado's investigation into former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters began three years ago, when images taken during a secure update of her county's voting machines surfaced online in 2021. They were posted by people trying to undermine the validity of the 2020 presidential election. They got the images from Peters. In his closing arguments, prosecutor Robert Shapiro said it's a case about deceit to trick others.
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ROBERT SHAPIRO: Most telling was the defendant offering up her office and herself to aid outsiders to gain unauthorized access to secured election systems that she was entrusted to protect.
BIRKELAND: The jury found Peters guilty of attempts to influence a public servant and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. Peters told county and state workers she was bringing a new employee to attend the state's update of the voting machines, but Peters brought someone else - a California man with ties to the CEO of My Pillow, Mike Lindell. Both have been active in national efforts to prove false claims of election fraud. Neither is charged in the Colorado case. Peters' defense said she broke no rules, and everything she did was within her authority as clerk. Here's attorney John Case.
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JOHN CASE: There's also no dispute about what was going to happen when the state got in there to do the trusted build. They were going to erase all the records.
BIRKELAND: State officials deny that the update deleted election records. The jury found Peters not guilty on three counts, including that she stole a local man's identity. They found that the man was willingly involved in the plot. Peters' sentencing is set for October 3. Meanwhile, there is still an ongoing federal investigation. For NPR News, I'm Bente Birkeland in Denver.
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