Judge Uses Mike Lindell's Claims Against Republican

Mesa County Clerk and Colorado Republican candidate for secretary of state Tina Peters reacts to early election returns during a primary night watch party at the Wide Open Saloon on June 28, 2022 in Sedalia, Colorado.

U.S. District Judge Nina Wang on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Tina Peters, a former Mesa County, Colorado, law clerk, against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on some of the same legal grounds used in My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell's case.

In the suit filed in January, Peters sought to prevent the government's federal criminal investigation into her regarding election equipment tampering and identity theft relating to an alleged election security breach in May 2021.

Wang, a Biden appointee, found that Peters' "unsupported, conclusory allegations are insufficient to establish unlawful motivations on the part of the Federal Defendants," and therefore do not "justify this Court's equitable intervention in the matters of prosecutorial discretion."

On March 8, 2022, a grand jury indicted Peters, accusing her of permitting an unauthorized person to be present during the installation of Dominion voting machine software in May 2021 and allegedly assisting an unauthorized person in copying the hard drives of Mesa County voting machines.

The jury charged her with 10 counts—seven felonies and three misdemeanors—including alleged identity theft, attempting to influence a public servant and misconduct. Peters has denied wrongdoing and says the charges are politically motivated. She contends that her actions "were efforts to protect the integrity of the election process and to comply with federal law to maintain election records." Peters is set to appear in court on July 29.

She claims that the federal criminal investigation was in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights, saying that it was conducted "in a manner calculated to intimidate anyone who would associate with Ms. Peters in questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 election." The judge found those assertions "unavailing," as written in the 31-page motion to dismiss the case.

Peters is a vocal supporter of election misinformation and former President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen through widespread voter fraud. She is featured in the Lindell-funded 2022 election conspiracy film [S]election Code, whose IMBD description reads: "Once you see '[S]election Code,' you'll never again let a machine near your vote." Peters unsuccessfully ran for Colorado secretary of state in 2022.

Newsweek reached out to Peters via email andsubmitted a form contacting the Department of Justice on Thursday.

Lindell v. United States is cited throughout the motion to dismiss, often appearing in the text and as a footnote. The motion reads: "In support of their arguments for dismissal on equitable jurisdiction grounds, the Federal Defendants rely on Lindell v. United States," in which the court held that "the plaintiff could not use a civil action to collaterally attack an ongoing federal investigation."

Lindell, a staunch Trump supporter who endorsed conspiracy theories about 2020 election fraud and supported attempts to overturn the results, argued that his rights were violated when FBI agents seized his phone in 2022.

The Supreme Court refused to hear his Lindell's appeal. He claimed the government is working to "identify and retaliate against those who persist in questioning the integrity of computerized voting systems, particularly those used in the 2020 election." He has since dropped the lawsuit.

In her dismissal of Peters' lawsuit, Wang quoted the Eighth Circuit's decision against Lindell, saying, "this litigation is a tactic to, at a minimum, interfere with and, at most, enjoin a criminal investigation and ultimately hamper any potential federal prosecution related... Affording such relief is not only contrary to the purpose of a preliminary injunction but would open the door to a deluge of similar litigation by those under criminal investigation."

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial