Colorado Suspends Attorney Jenna Ellis
Had worked with a number of high-profile Christian ministries
An agreement with state legal regulators bars former President Donald Trump’s legal adviser Jenna Ellis from practicing law in Colorado.
Jenna Ellis on Jenna Ellis Tonight / Video screenshot
The agreement comes after Ellis, a Christian attorney who has work with James Dobson Family Institute, Colorado Christian University, and Summit Ministries, pleaded guilty of aiding and abetting the conspiracy to overturn 2020 election results in Georgia. In October, Ellis pleaded guilty to a single charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writing in violation of Georgia law.
Ellis, a native of Colorado, has been an attorney licensed to practice law in the state for over a decade, according to court records. Ellis will be barred from practicing law in Colorado for three years.
The suspension begins on July 2, 2024, the agreement says. Other states that may recognize Ellis’ law license are also likely to refuse to allow her to practice law.
Prior to Ellis’ guilty plea in Georgia, the same attorney discipline judge who suspended her in Colorado approved a public censure of Ellis for 10 misrepresentations made during her tenure as Trump’s senior legal advisor and campaign counsel in November and December 2020.
The plea deal enabled Ellis to avoid prison time, but she still received a five-year probationary sentence. Ellis also has to pay $5,000 in restitution, complete 100 hours of community service, and write an apology letter to the residents of Georgia. She is not allowed to post about the case on social media. She is expected to testify against Trump and other co-defendants.
In a letter submitted to the court as part of the settlement agreement (pg. 39), Ellis wrote that she chose to be responsible for her actions for “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 wrote, and encouraged others who still believe the 2020 election was stolen to consider changing their position.
“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,” she said. “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…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 involved.”
Ellis claimed in the letter that what has come out since the 2020 election has failed to prove claims that the election was stolen.
“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,'” Ellis added. “This faith in the integrity of our elections was damaged. That is the harm.”
Should Ellis wish to reinstate her Colorado law license, the court requires her to “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.”
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In the letter, she stated that she “gratefully accepts” the three-year suspension for practicing law in Colorado and reiterated her regret for becoming involved in spreading false claims about the election.
On X (formerly Twitter), Ellis shared a statement from her lawyer John Richliano: “Unlike others in the Trump orbit, [Ellis] stepped forward and took responsibility and told the truth. She did this at considerable personal cost, having received threatening emails, texts and tweets, also of the obscene variety. She may well get them after today. She gratefully accepted temporary suspension of her license understanding her role and realizing after the fact that there was a lot of untruths being advanced on behalf of the former president. It was never about disbarment and Ms. Ellis is grateful to attorney regulation for recognizing this was the better outcome.”
Ellis is one of 18 defendants in another election interference case in Arizona.
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