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Jenna Ellis the target of watchdog groups seeking her disbarment over Georgia case

After her guilty plea to a felony, Ellis has attracted negative attention from all over

Senior Culture Editor

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Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings at the Fulton County Courthouse October 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (John Bazemore-Pool/Getty Images)
Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings at the Fulton County Courthouse October 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (John Bazemore-Pool/Getty Images)

Jenna Ellis, one of Donald Trump's former attorneys, pleaded guilty in October to election crimes related to the former president's "big lie" of 2020. That admission — along with her telling Fulton County investigators that a top aide informed her that the former president was "not going to leave" the White House despite losing the 2020 election — has drawn attention her way from groups looking to shut her down.

In a letter from two such groups drafted on Friday, Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) and Stand United Democracy Center — with other signatories including former Gov. Steve Bullock (D-Mont.), former Gov. Bill Weld (R-Mass.) and multiple former state attorneys general — they urge the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel (OARC) to "promptly commence a formal disciplinary proceeding" against Ellis for her recent guilty plea.

“Attorneys barred in Colorado take an oath to ’employ such means as are consistent with truth and honor,'” the letter reads. “As set forth below, through acts undertaken in late 2020, Ms. Ellis violated that oath.”

"The lies that Jenna Ellis helped spread about fraud and misconduct by Georgia voters and election administrators poisoned public trust in our elections, endangered election workers and threatened our democracy,” Gillian Feiner, the senior counsel at the States United Democracy Center, wrote in a statement.

 

 

 

 

By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Senior Culture Editor, where she helps further coverage of TV, film, music, books and culture trends from a unique and thoughtful angle. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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