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As President Trump sought to overturn the election results, his personal lawyers appeared before television hosts, state election officials and anyone else eager to receive their baseless allegations of electoral fraud.
But behind the scenes, a longtime conservative lawyer named Cleta Mitchell quietly helped. His work for Mr. Trump first gained widespread attention over the weekend, when a recording was released of an hour-long call in which Mr. Trump threatened election officials in Georgia “a criminal offense” if they did not “find” enough votes. to change the state’s presidential results.
During the call, Ms Mitchell repeatedly intervened to assist Mr Trump, showing a level of intimate involvement in his efforts as they made baseless statements about the election and urged Georgian officials to pass on information. electoral data.
Ms. Mitchell is a partner at the law firm Foley & Lardner, which has more than 1,000 attorneys and an office in nearly every major city in the United States and represents large companies such as CVS Pharmacy. His presence on the call stood out because Mr. Trump struggled to attract high profile lawyers to help him in his attempts to overturn the election, instead relying on a group that included Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York who made wacky claims in defense of Mr. Trump throughout his presidency and Sidney Powell, who espoused conspiracy theories.
Ms Mitchell has been advising the president for weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
In the aftermath of the audio airing, Foley & Lardner sought to distance themselves from Ms Mitchell, saying in a statement Monday that her lawyers were to refrain from representing or advising anyone in the election. The firm said it was examining Ms Mitchell’s role in Mr Trump’s legal team.
“We are aware of and concerned about Ms. Mitchell’s participation in the Jan. 2 conference call and are working to better understand her involvement,” the firm said.
Ms Mitchell did not return an email requesting comment.
Although affiliated with an established law firm, Ms Mitchell fits the mold of many lawyers who advised Mr Trump during his presidency as he faced an investigation and indictment of ‘a special advocate and has now embarked on a specious effort to overturn the vote.
Ms Mitchell for years represented a range of conservatives such as Scott Pruitt, the former head of Mr. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, and organizations like the National Rifle Association. In recent years, she has represented conservative Tea Party groups who have accused the IRS of wrongly targeting them.
During the Russia inquiry, Mitchell publicly attacked Special Advocate Robert S. Mueller III in the news media, asking why her team was not examining Hillary Clinton instead.
Ms Mitchell, 70, began her political career as a Democrat, winning the Oklahoma House of Representatives election in her mid-20s and serving for nearly a decade before campaigning unsuccessfully for the post lieutenant governor in 1986.
She came to Washington as an activist calling for term limits and registered as a Republican in 1996. She has established herself as one of the party’s leading electoral and nonprofit advocates, representing her campaign arms in Congress and several of its candidates, as well as groups that support Republicans, including the NRA, where she also served on the council.
But unlike most mainstream political lawyers, Ms. Mitchell has maintained a public profile supporting candidates and causes, earning a reputation as a hitman. She was one of the main criticisms of the IRS’s treatment of nonprofit groups associated with the Tea Party movement during the Obama administration and of state and local coronavirus restrictions that church groups opposed last year. .
During the Trump administration, Ms. Mitchell also represented the nonprofit organization of the President’s former chief strategist Stephen K. Banon, which was under scrutiny by federal prosecutors in Manhattan as part of an extensive investigation to determine if Mr. Bannon defrauded donors.
At one point in the call over the weekend, Mr. Trump raised an unsubstantiated claim about the Atlanta ballots that were for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“Does anyone know about this?” Mr. Trump asked.
“I’m aware of it, but – ”Ms. Mitchell said before being interrupted by the President.
“OK, Cleta, I’m not asking you. Cleta, honestly. I’m asking Brad the question, ”Trump said, referring to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Maggie Haberman contribution to reports. Sheelagh McNeill contributed to the research.
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