Cleta Mitchell, who assisted Trump in calling Georgia officials, resigns from law firm

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National law firm Foley & Lardner said it was “concerned” about Mitchell’s involvement in Trump’s call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and said the firm was not involved in any legal work challenging the election results. On Tuesday, he announced that Mitchell was no longer at the firm.

“Cleta Mitchell has informed the firm’s management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner with effect immediately. Ms. Mitchell concluded that her departure was in the firm’s best interest as well as in her own interest. staff, ”said firm spokesman Dan Farrell. a statement Tuesday. “We thank you for your contributions to the company and wish you all the best.”

Mitchell said Tuesday to his friends and clients in a personal email that he had left his law firm after nearly two decades, blaming “a massive campaign of pressure in recent days mounted by left-wing groups” against she, the firm, and her clients from her affiliation with Trump and her litigation and post-election efforts in Georgia.

“With increasingly blatant attacks on conservatives and, above all, anyone who supports and wants to help President Trump, I realize that a large national law firm is no longer the right platform for me or my law firm, “he wrote. Mitchell confirmed his email to CNN, but declined to comment further.

Mitchell has for many years been one of the most prominent voices on the right alleging vote fraud.

In Trump’s January 2 call with Raffensperger, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows identified Mitchell as a lawyer who had some involvement with Trump’s effort.

In the call, Trump demands that Georgian officials find votes to tip the election

He spoke several times during the call about a lawsuit Trump had filed to decertify Georgia’s results and about Trump’s effort to get state records. A state attorney told him the information he had “was inaccurate.”

Law firms, which are often proud to represent unpopular positions, rarely react strongly to political discourse. But Trump’s weekend call to Georgia officials and insistence on trying to change the outcome of the election have been perceived by the legal community as extraordinary and, in many cases, ethically and democratically out of bounds.

In excerpts from the impressive one-hour phone call, Trump insulted his fellow Republican for refusing to falsely say he had won the Georgia election and repeatedly made unfounded allegations of election fraud.

“The people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, hey, you’ve recalculated,” Trump said in part of the call. Raffensperger replied, “Well, Mr. President, the challenge you have is that the data you have is incorrect.”

Raffensperger’s office officials recorded the call with Trump, according to a source who was on the call and had direct knowledge of the conversation. Raffensperger told his advisers he did not want to publish the recording or transcript of the call unless Trump attacked him or distorted the call, according to the source. Trump attacked Raffensperger in a tweet Sunday morning and referred to the call.

Mitchell’s involvement surprised. CNN previously reported that several senior officials had not known Mitchell was working with the president until he appeared in Trump’s call with Raffensperger. Republican sources told CNN late last year that Mitchell, who has been active in Republican causes, including gun rights, was among prominent Conservative lawyers who would lead a Republican presidential campaign. for a serious election dispute.

But that effort never materialized and the courts have flatly and repeatedly rejected Trump’s post-election demands, including a Tuesday morning in a federal court in Georgia.

In some parts of the Jan. 2 call, Mitchell pushed Georgia officials to help Trump. He told the state that the president searched for his vote-related data and records. “I think what the president is saying and what we have tried to do is say, look, the court is not acting on our request,” he said in the summons. “But the people of Georgia and the people of America have a right to know the answers. And you have data and records that we don’t have access to.”

Trump has spent the last weeks of his term primarily focused on undermining election results, spreading unfounded allegations of election fraud, and urging state officials to intervene in his favor. Last month, Trump called on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, pushing the Republican to convince state lawmakers to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the state, a source familiar with the conversation told CNN.
The president spoke on several occasions with the president of the House in Pennsylvania, a state that Biden also won, about the election results of Keystone state, asking about his election process, a spokesman for the state said last month. legislator.

In November, Trump invited Michigan Republican state lawmakers to the White House and called on two members of the Wayne County Republican Board of Sheets to offer their support after going and voting again. to certify the election results of the largest county in the state, according to a person familiar with the matter.

This story has been updated with Mitchell’s letter to clients and friends.

Jason Morris, Chandelis Duster, Devan Cole, Kevin Liptak, Kaitlan Collins, Erica Orden, Evan Perez, Kara Scannell, Jim Acosta, Paul LeBlanc, Kristen Holmes, Veronica Stracqualursi, Annie Grayer, and Jeremy Herb contributed to this report.

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