Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis says she made 10 false statements about 2020 election, is censured in Colorado
Ellis is one of several Trump lawyers discplined or sued over false statements about the 2020 election.
Bart Jansen- Ellis was censured after acknowledging 10 misrepresentations about the election.
- State United Democracy Center filed the ethics complaint based on statements on television, Twitter.
Jenna Ellis, one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers, was censured Wednesday by the Colorado Bar Association after acknowledging saying 10 misrepresentations about the 2020 election.
Among the false statements:
- Ellis told Fox Business that “ballots were manipulated"
- On Newsmax's "Spicer & Co." she said, “we know the election was stolen”
- On Fox News she claimed 500,000 votes in Arizona “were cast illegally.”
As part of her disciplinary settlement, she acknowledged the statements were misrepresentations.
Bryon Large, the presiding disciplinary judge overseeing the complaint, said Ellis violated Colorado bar rules by engaging in conduct “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
The advocacy groups 65 Project and States United Democracy Center filed ethics complaints against Ellis. Aaron Scherzer, senior counsel for States United, said Ellis repeatedly went on television and Twitter to “promote the reckless lie that the 2020 election was stolen.”
Ellis is among several Trump lawyers who have been disciplined or become the subject of lawsuits over their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
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Here is what we know about case:
Judge: Ellis had ‘selfish motive’ and ‘engaged in a pattern of misconduct’
States United Democracy Center filed the ethics complaint in May 2022 with the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel.
Large, the state Supreme Court’s presiding disciplinary judge, held a hearing March 1 on the misrepresentations Ellis acknowledged. Large said there were no comparable cases with similar facts.
“The parties agree that (Ellis), through her conduct, undermined the American public’s confidence in the presidential election, violating her duty of candor to the public,” Large said.
He ruled that her lack of prior misconduct mitigated her behavior. But he ruled she had two aggravating factors in the case: a “selfish motive and she engaged in a pattern of misconduct.”
Large sanctioned her with public censure.
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Ellis slams investigation as ‘politically motivated’
Ellis said in a statement critics failed to destroy her by depriving her of her law license.
“This was politically motivated from the start from Democrats and Never Trumpers,” Ellis said.
Michael Melito, her lawyer, said Ellis remains a practicing attorney in good standing in Colorado.
“In a very heated political climate, we secured that correct outcome," he said.
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What did Ellis say?
The misrepresentations Ellis acknowledged included:
- Nov. 20, 2020: On "Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business, Ellis said: “We have affidavits from witnesses, we have voter intimidation, we have the ballots that were manipulated, we have all kinds of statistics that show that this was a coordinated effort in these states to transfer votes either from Trump to Biden, to manipulate the ballots, to count them in secret…”
- Nov. 20, 2020: On "Spicer & Co.", Ellis said about results in Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia that “combined we know that the election was stolen from President Trump and we can prove it.”
- Nov 23, 2020: On "The Ari Melber Show" on MSNBC, Ellis said, “The election was stolen and Trump won by a landslide.”
- Nov. 30, 2020: On "Mornings with Maria" on Fox Business, Ellis said, “The outcome of this election is actually fraudulent, it’s wrong and we understand that when we subtract all the illegal ballots, you can see that President Trump actually won in a landslide.”
- Dec. 5, 2020: On "Justice with Judge Jeanine" on Fox News, Ellis said, “We have over 500,000 votes (in Arizona) that were cast illegally.”
Scherzer of States United said Ellis abused her law license as part of an attempt to overturn the election.
“Her lies did lasting damage, and her name will forever be linked to this assault on our democracy,” Scherzer said.
Michael Teter, managing director of the 65 Project, said the disciplinary process should be revamped after taking a year to discipline Ellis for “lying to the world about fraud in the 2020 election.”
"Nor is a public censure a particularly satisfying outcome when one considers the direct line between Ms. Ellis’s deliberate actions and the attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6,” Teter said.
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Who else has been disciplined?
Another Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, had his law licenses in New York and Washington, D.C., suspended for false statements he made about the election. The New York Supreme Court’s appellate division ruled Giuliani made “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large.”
Sidney Powell, another Trump lawyer, had a disciplinary proceeding at the Texas Bar Association dismissed in February. But she remains a defendant in lawsuits by Dominion and Smartmatic voting systems.
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