Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who was on the phone call with President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Sunday, has reportedly resigned from her law firm. Mitchell was a partner at Foley & Lardner LLP, and was on the phone on Trump’s end, though her function remains unclear. On Tuesday, Foley & Lardner sent a statement to The Hill confirming Mitchell’s resignation.
“Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately,” the statement read. “Ms. Mitchell concluded that her departure was in the firm’s best interests, as well as in her own personal best interests. We thank her for her contributions to the firm and wish her well.” The firm did not explain why Mitchell was on the incriminating call between Trump and Raffensperger, or how she may have advised the president in his comments there. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows previously said that Mitchell was “not the attorney of record but someone who has been involved.”
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Mitchell was on the line in the phone call where Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” the votes he needed to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia — a request that many pundits believe is effectively an attempt to subvert the democratic process. Even overturning Georgia would not be enough to change the results of the election itself. That is beside the point, since there is no evidence of voter fraud or election tampering on a scale large enough to impact the results, in spite of Trump’s dozens of recounts, audits and lawsuits.
In a previous statement, Folley & Lardner tried to distance itself from Mitchell, indicating that her participation in the president’s phone call was “voluntary.” It read: “Foley & Lardner LLP is not representing any parties seeking to contest the results of the presidential election. In November, the firm made a policy decision not to take on any representation of any party in connection with matters related to the presidential election results.”
“Our policy did allow our attorneys to participate in observing election recounts and similar actions on a voluntary basis in their individual capacity as private citizens so long as they did not act as legal advisers,” the statement went on. “We are aware of, and are concerned by, Ms. Mitchell’s participation in the January 2 conference call and are working to understand her involvement more thoroughly.”
Congress will convene to certify the 2020 election results on Wednesday, Jan. 6. President-elect Joe Biden will take office on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.
