FBI raids home of Trumpist county clerk in probe of voting-system passwords leak [Updated]

The FBI joined state and local authorities in reportedly raiding the homes of Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and several associates yesterday as law enforcement agencies continue investigating a voting-machine security breach from Peters’ office.

“The FBI carried out a court-ordered search of Peters’ home in Mesa County early Tuesday morning, leaving her ‘terrified,’ Peters said Tuesday night in an appearance on Lindell TV, an online channel run by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump supporter and proponent of discredited claims the 2020 election was stolen,” Colorado Politics reported yesterday.

Colorado Politics wrote that federal, state, and local authorities searched the homes of “Peters and three of her associates on Tuesday as part of an investigation into accusations the elected official was involved in voting machine security breaches.”

“We executed four federally court-authorized operations today to gather evidence in connection with the investigation into the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office,” Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein told the news site. “We did so with assistance from the DA’s office from the 21st Judicial District, the attorney general’s office and the FBI.”

We contacted Rubinstein, the FBI, and the Colorado attorney general’s office today and will update this article if we get any more information on the raids and investigation.

(Update, 5:05 pm EST: We received a statement from the Mesa County government, which said: “On the morning of Nov. 16, the FBI conducted federally-authorized law enforcement actions into potential criminal activity by employees of the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office and others associated with those employees. The activity occurred in both Mesa and Garfield Counties at four separate locations. Investigators with the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office (Mesa County, Colo.) and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office assisted in the operations. No arrests were made, and the operations are related to ongoing investigations. Per order of a federal court, all documents related to these operations are sealed.”)

“The FBI raided my home”

“The FBI raided my home at 6 a.m. this morning, accusing me of committing a crime,” Peters reportedly said on the Lindell channel. “And they raided the homes of my friends, mostly older women. I was terrified.” Peters reportedly said the search of her home took about three hours, that her phone and other electronic devices were confiscated, and that law enforcement officers conducting the raid “looked very much like they were in a combat zone—soldiers with automatic weapons and combat gear.”

“She added that authorities ‘used a battering ram,’ destroying the front door of one of her friends’ homes,” Colorado Politics wrote.

The FBI confirmed in August that it had joined the criminal investigation into the security breach and was working with Mesa County prosecutors on the matter.

One of the homes searched yesterday reportedly belongs to Sherronna Bishop, a Peters supporter who once served as the campaign manager for Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). Bishop’s support of the Proud Boys far-right extremist group apparently got her sacked from the Boebert campaign last year.