Jenna Ellis’ Georgia plea deal may not save her from disbarment
Like fellow co-defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, attorney Jenna Ellis is avoiding state prison by agreeing to a plea deal in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' RICO/election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
But for these lawyers, there may be non-criminal repercussions to admitting that they lied when they promoted Trump's false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Powell, for example, has been battling a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. And Ellis, according to Law & Crime reporter Marisa Sarnoff, is a candidate for possible disbarment.
In a December 15 letter sent to the Colorado Supreme Court, members of the States United Democracy Center and Lawyers Defending American Democracy argued that Ellis should be barred from practicing law.
Ellis' critics wrote, "We, together with the additional signatories below, write to urge the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel (OARC) to promptly commence a formal disciplinary proceeding against Jenna Ellis seeking her disbarment in light of her recent guilty plea to a felony in Georgia and to initiate an interim suspension proceeding under (Colorado law)."
The letter also says of Ellis, "The crime to which she pled guilty — one involving false statements in the context of her representation of former President Trump — unquestionably reflects adversely on her fitness to practice law."
As part of her plea agreement with Willis' office, Ellis will spend five years on probation and pay $5000.
Sarnoff reports, "The letter notes that Ellis was previously censured in connection with her claims on Twitter — now X — and in the media that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and President Joe Biden's win was not legitimate. In March, she formally acknowledged that she made 'public misrepresentations in November and December 2020 in her capacity as counsel for the then-President's reelection campaign and as personal counsel to the then-President, while also advertising her status as a lawyer,' according to a ruling from a Colorado judge at the time."