The universe of active avenues offering accountability for those who helped Donald Trump try to stay in power after the 2020 presidential election is expanding.
Colorado Attorney Regulation Counsel Jessica Yates confirmed her team, which handles complaints against lawyers registered in the state, is looking at a complaint filed against past Trump attorney Jenna Ellis seeking an investigation and potentially serious professional consequences for her involvement in Trump’s 2020 schemes. She was a close associate of Rudy Giuliani and even appeared alongside him before state legislators as Rudy pushed in multiple states after the last presidential election for action by those officials on the results. She also helped prepare claimed rationales for the then-vice president taking action in Congress to stop Biden’s election win, the underlying Colorado complaint against Ellis from the States United Democracy Center says.
“The status of this complaint is that it is pending with our office,” Yates said. It’s unclear if she provided many further details about the status of her team’s work. As in other proceedings against lawyers who joined the Trump push after the last presidential race, eventual disbarment is an option if Yates decides to bring a case. “Ellis violated her professional obligations by knowingly providing objectively incorrect, false, and misleading legal advice that was designed to further Mr. Trump’s illegal schemes aimed at thwarting the count of electoral votes,” the original complaint said. Ellis sat for questioning by the House January 6 committee, where she declined to answer — citing protections under the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination — when asked if she was paid according to the terms of an invoice for $22,500 covering work she did for the then-outgoing president following the 2020 election. Ellis apparently submitted that invoice.
Rudy Giuliani already faced a case from the disciplinary counsel overseeing lawyers registered in D.C., with a panel subsequently concluding he likely violated ethics standards — although that process continues. Further steps were set to include the disciplinary counsel’s team providing specific recommendations for punishment. A member of that team on the case against Rudy — which deals with some of his involvement in pro-Trump schemes after the last election — already spoke approvingly of potential disbarment. The D.C. court of appeals would need to approve any sought punishment before its implementation.
