Ex-Trump attorney admits statements about 2020 election were false and is censured by judge
By Tierney Sneed, CNN
Jenna Ellis was censured by a disciplinary judge in Colorado Wednesday, in the latest effort to hold accountable attorneys who boosted former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election reversal gambits.
Ellis signed a stipulation stating that several comments she made about the 2020 election violated professional ethics rules barring reckless, knowing or intentional misrepresentations by attorneys, according to documents posted by Colorado’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. As part of the stipulation, Ellis agrees to pay $224.
Among the false statements highlighted in the stipulation were comments by Ellis on social media and in TV appearances claiming that the Trump campaign had evidence the election was “stolen.”
“The public censure in this matter reinforces that even if engaged in political speech, there is a line attorneys cannot cross, particularly when they are speaking in a representative capacity,” Jessica Yates, attorney regulation counsel for the Colorado Supreme Court, said in a statement.
Michael Melito, an attorney for Ellis, told CNN in a statement, “My client remains a practicing attorney in good standing in the State of Colorado. In a very heated political climate, we have secured that correct outcome.”
The censure was first reported by the Colorado Newsline.
The stipulation was approved by Disciplinary Presiding Judge Bryon M. Large on Wednesday in an opinion posted alongside the judge’s censure.
The Attorney Regulation Counsel’s office had previously indicated it was preparing a charge against Ellis, but with the announcement of the censure, the office said in a statement that it “is not currently pursuing any other charges against Ms. Ellis.”
The-CNN-Wire
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