White House Email Links Trump Retaliation Against Colorado to Tina Peters Imprisonment

Federal agencies moved to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in Colorado funding and shutter a prominent climate laboratory in December following a late-night White House email demanding coordinated actions against the state, according to court documents disclosed in a Denver federal lawsuit.

The email, sent at 2:43 a.m. on Dec. 15 by Deputy Assistant to the President Emily Underwood, summoned officials from five federal departments to a “brainstorm call” to prioritize Colorado for adverse administrative actions, according to a transcript of a Tuesday hearing in U.S. District Court reviewed by The Denver Post.

The ‘Brainstorm Call’ and Retaliation Claims

According to The Denver Post, Colorado state officials argued in court that the email served as a “smoking gun” connecting federal grant cuts directly to presidential anger over the imprisonment of Tina Peters, a former Mesa County clerk. President Donald Trump had repeatedly phoned Colorado Gov. Jared Polis demanding Peters’ release, while Justice Department officials privately discussed putting pressure on the state, according to The Denver Post reporting.

Hours after Underwood sent the directive to the departments of energy, transportation, interior, and agriculture, alongside the Office of Management and Budget, Trump publicly criticized Polis as “weak and pathetic,” The Denver Post reported. Four days prior to the email, Trump had issued Peters a symbolic pardon.

David Moskowitz, Colorado’s deputy solicitor general, told U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson during the Tuesday hearing that the plan originated directly out of the Executive Office of the President, calling the targeted funding cuts “extraordinary.”

Impact on State Funding and Facilities

In the days following the White House instruction, multiple federal agencies announced punitive measures against Colorado, cutting vital infrastructure, research, and social program funding. According to The Denver Post, the Department of Energy cut $615 million intended for the state, while the Department of Transportation ended $109 million in grant funding.

Additionally, the Office of Management and Budget moved to shutter the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, and federal emergency officials rejected disaster relief funds for fire-scarred areas on the Western Slope. The Department of Agriculture ordered the state to swiftly re-certify 100,000 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients, and Trump vetoed legislation designed to provide clean water to parts of the state before the end of December.

The White House denied that the Underwood email was linked to Peters, though a spokeswoman did not comment on the record beyond directing questions regarding grant funding to the budget management office, The Denver Post reported.

Judicial Response and Legal Proceedings

During the Tuesday hearing, Judge Jackson expressed strong skepticism regarding the administration’s actions against the state. According to the court transcript cited by The Denver Post, Jackson stated that targeting Colorado “makes no sense in our democracy.”

The federal judge ordered the Executive Office of the President to turn over additional records as part of the ongoing civil lawsuit brought by Colorado officials, who argue the federal actions constitute illegal political retaliation.