Jenna Ellis agreed to a three-year suspension of her Colorado law license for her felony guilty plea in the Georgia election case, and she asked anyone who still believes the election was stolen to reconsider.
Last August, a Georgia grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 others (including former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, and several lawyers who represented Trump and his campaign, including Ellis, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and John Eastman) for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election in that state.
Scott Hall, a former Georgia bail bondsman, pleaded guilty in late September, followed by attorneys Powell and Chesebro in October, then Ellis made her own tearful appearance in court in late October to plead guilty.
Ellis attempted to frame her involvement as a rookie lawyer who foolishly relied on more experienced lawyers in an apology statement that was part of her plea deal but admitted that she had made multiple false statements, failing to “make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were true,” and “failed to do my due diligence” during the “frenetic pace” of attempting to challenge the 2020 election.
“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” she said, adding that she “look[ed] back on this whole experience with deep remorse.”
A Colorado state bar disciplinary judge authorized a settlement between Ellis and Colorado’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel on Tuesday afternoon, suspending her license for three years, according to local Denver NBC affiliate 9News.
In the court’s judgment, the judge said that Ellis’ acts contained numerous examples of “significant actual harm,” particularly how she “undermined the American public’s confidence in the presidential election process.”
The judge did consider arguments from two government watchdog groups that pushed for Ellis’ disbarment, noting that “disbarment is the presumptive action” for her misconduct, but ultimately was lenient because “her criminal culpability was due to her conduct as an accessory, not as a principal.”
In a letter filed to the court as part of the agreement to avoid disbarment, Ellis stated that she was “choosing to take responsibility for my actions and my association with the harm caused to the nation by the post-election activities of 2020 on behalf of then-President Donald Trump.”
“I was wrong to be involved,” she said, urging anyone who still believes the 2020 election was stolen to reconsider.
Since my involvement in the Trump Campaign’s challenges to the election results, I have learned of the bad faith dealing and outright illegality of some actors involved. For example, I did not know at the time of the Campaign’s commissioned investigation into the 2020 election results, or that the President was notified in December 2020 that he had lost. A lot of new information has come out, which I encourage the public to consider.…
The harm of my participation in the Georgia Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing is painfully evident to this day. Millions have been misled by the cynical “Stop the Steal” campaign, and otherwise responsible leaders are still publicly maintaining that these false claims have merit. The lies were repeated, thereby becoming “true” to a large segment of the populace.
For democracy to function and thrive, the people have to believe that their votes count and that the electoral system is fair. This is what “election integrity” should mean, rather than what it has become for many: a political statement of “loyalty.” This faith in the integrity of our elections was damaged. That is the harm. While I do not doubt that this mindset would still prevail even if I didn’t play a part in it, I am ashamed and remorseful that I was involved to the extent that I was. Had I known then what I know now, I would not have been involed.
…I will hopefully encourage others who may still believe that the election was “stolen” to consider changing their position. Everything that has come out since has not proven that claim.
Ellis’ ban will start on July 2. She is also forced to pay $5,000 to the Georgia Secretary of State, about $1,700 in fines and fees to the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, perform 100 hours of community service, and write an apology letter to Georgia people for her acts.
If she desires to reinstate her Colorado law license when her suspension expires on July 2, 2027, the court ruling states that she must first “prove by clear and convincing evidence that she has been rehabilitated, has complied with all disciplinary orders and rules, and is fit to practice law.”
Ellis was previously publicly censured in March 2023 for 10 election-related misrepresentations she made on television and Twitter in 2020 while serving as Trump’s chief legal adviser. She is also facing criminal charges in Arizona for another indictment relating to her efforts to overthrow the 2020 election.