Jenna Ellis agrees to a three-year suspension of her law license

Jenna Ellis has agreed to a three-year suspension of her Colorado law license because she pleaded guilty to election fraud charges in Georgia. She urged anyone who still believes the election was rigged to reconsider their opinion.

In August last year, a grand jury in Georgia indicted the former president Donald Trump and 18 others (including former New York mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giulianiformer White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadowsformer Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Clarkand several lawyers who have represented Trump and his campaign, including Ellis, Sidney Powell, Kenneth ChesebroAnd John Eastman) for their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in that state.

Former Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall pleaded guilty in late September, followed by attorneys Powell and Chesebro in October, and then Ellis made her own tearful court appearance to enter her guilty plea in late October.

In an apology statement that was part of her guilty plea, Ellis attempted to portray her involvement as an inexperienced attorney who foolishly relied on more experienced attorneys, but admitted that she had made several false statements.

I failed to “ensure that the facts the other attorneys claimed were true were in fact true,” and I “failed to do my due diligence” during the “breakneck pace” with which I attempted to challenge the 2020 election.

“If I had known then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” she continued, claiming that she “looks back on this whole experience with deep regret.”

On Tuesday afternoon, a Colorado State Bar disciplinary judge approved a settlement between Ellis and the Colorado State Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel that will revoke her license for three years, local Denver NBC affiliate 9News reported.

In his opinion, the judge wrote that Ellis’ actions contained numerous examples of “substantial actual harm,” particularly the way in which she “undermined the American public’s confidence in the presidential election process.”

While the judge considered the arguments of two state watchdog groups that had advocated for Ellis’s disbarment, noting that “disbarment was the presumptive measure” for her misconduct, he was ultimately lenient because “her criminal culpability was based on her conduct as an accomplice, not as a perpetrator.”

In a letter submitted to the court as part of the agreement to avoid disbarment, Ellis wrote that she “wants to accept responsibility for her actions and her connection to the harm done to the nation by post-election activities.

of 2020 on behalf of then-President Donald Trump.”

“It was wrong of me to interfere,” she continued, urging those who still believed the 2020 election was rigged to think again:

Since my involvement in the Trump campaign’s challenges to the election results, I have learned of the malicious dealings and outright illegality of some of the actors involved. For example, I was unaware at the time of the campaign-commissioned investigation into the 2020 election results, or that the President was informed of his defeat in December 2020. Much new information has come to light that I want the public to be aware of… The damage my participation in the Georgia Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing caused remains painfully evident to this day. Millions were misled by the cynical “Stop the Steal” campaign, and otherwise responsible politicians still publicly claim that these false claims are legitimate. The lies were repeated, thereby becoming “true” for a large portion of the population. For democracy to function and thrive, people must believe that their votes count and that the electoral system is fair. That is what “election integrity” should mean, not what it has become for many: a political statement of “loyalty.” That belief in the integrity of our elections has been damaged. That is the damage. I have no doubt that this mindset would still prevail even if I were not

I am ashamed and regret that I was involved to that extent. Had I known then what I know now, I would not have been involved…I will hopefully encourage others who still believe the election was “stolen” to change their minds. Everything that has come out since has failed to prove that claim.

Ellis’ suspension begins July 2. She must also pay $5,000 to the Georgia Secretary of State, approximately $1,700 in fines and court costs to the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, perform 100 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the people of Georgia for her conduct.

When her suspension expires on July 2, 2027, and she seeks to regain her license to practice law in Colorado, the court order states that she must first “demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that she has been rehabilitated, has complied with all disciplinary orders and regulations, and is fit to practice law.”

Ellis was previously publicly reprimanded in March 2023 for making 10 false statements about the election on television and Twitter in 2020 while serving as Trump’s senior legal adviser. She is also currently facing criminal charges in Arizona on another charge related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.