Trump Issues Pardon for Woman Convicted of State Crimes — Can He Do That?

The topic of limits to presidential power has been a hot-button issue for years. For President Donald Trump, he and his administration seem to want to have no limits. Or, at least, distressingly few limits.

They have been battling it out in court over where the president's power should end and have occasionally received a slap on the wrist for reaching too far.

One topic where it seems as though the president has an enormous amount of power is his right to issue pardons. In December 2025, Trump issued a pardon that drew immediate backlash. That pardon, issued for a state crime, may not even be legal. So, can a president pardon state crimes? Here's what we know.

For federal crimes, the law is pretty clear. In Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, it reads that, "he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

However, law scholars have interpreted the text to mean that "Offences against the United States" only refers to federal crimes.

Even the American Bar Association, the governing body for lawyers in the United States, has a website dedicated to the topic.

It explains, "A U.S. president has broad but not unlimited powers to pardon. For example, a president cannot pardon someone for a state crime. And constitutional experts are divided on whether a president can pardon him- or herself."

So, no. While a president can pardon federal crimes, he or she is not allowed to pardon state-level crimes.

But it would seem that, once again, President Trump seems uninterested in what the law says, and he's pushing to see how far he can reach before the courts slap his hand back.

On Dec. 12, 2025, he wrote on Truth Social that he was planning to issue a pardon for a woman who engaged in crimes during the 2020 election.

He wrote, "Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest. Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the 'crime' of demanding Honest Elections."

Trump added, "Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!"

Peters was convicted in 2024 of four felony and three misdemeanor charges in connection with election fraud in Mesa County. She is serving nine years in prison for her role in a voting system breach. She has consistently peddled lies about the 2020 election being "rigged," according to NBC News.

But, as the outlet notes, the pardon is largely symbolic.

In response to the post, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said, “The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up" (excerpt via NBC News).

This isn't the first time he has issued a symbolic pardon for state crimes, and it didn't hold water then. So, it will likely remain symbolic this time around as well.