A GOP attorney who advised former President Donald Trump on his campaign to reverse the 2020 election results is now pivotal in coordinating Republican efforts to tighten voting laws across the country.
Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican lawyer and advocate for conservative causes, was one of Trump’s advisers during a January phone call in which Trump asked election officials in Georgia to “ find ” enough votes to call him out, not Democrat Joe Biden , the winner of the battlefield stands.
Now Mitchell has taken the helm of two separate efforts to push for tougher state voting laws and to combat democratic efforts to expand access to voting at the federal level. She also advises state legislators on drafting the voting restriction proposals. And, she said on Friday, she is in regular contact with Trump.
“People are really interested in getting involved and we have to use all this energy,” Mitchell said in an interview. “There are many groups that have election integrity projects that have never been done before.”
Mitchell’s newfound fame solidifies ties between the former president, who falsely insisted that he lose the election due to fraud, and the GOP-led reform of the state’s vote that helped turn a fundamental principle of democracy into a partisan battlefield.
Trump’s false claims about fraud have sparked a wave of new voting restrictions. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, more than 250 proposed voting restrictions have been put forward this year by mostly Republican lawmakers. On Thursday, the Georgian GOP governor signed a measure requiring voters to show proof of identity to vote by mail, GOP-controlled state legislature gives new powers over local election councils and prohibits providing food or water to people waiting in line to vote. Biden on Friday denounced it as “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.”
In response, Democrats have stepped up pressure for a massive overhaul of the federal election law. That proposal, known as HR 1, would in effect neutralize state-level voter identification laws, allow anyone to vote by mail if they so choose, and automatically register citizens to vote. Republicans see that as a breach of state control over elections, saying it is meant to give Democrats an advantage.
“The Left is trying to dismantle 100 years of progress in electoral administration,” Mitchell said in dismay at Democrats’ allegations that Republicans are trying to suppress the vote. “We are currently watching two different films.”
Mitchell’s greatest public involvement in the voting wars was Trump’s participation in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Jan. 2. During that call, Mitchell insisted that she had evidence of voting fraud, but officials at the Secretary’s office told her that her records were incorrect.
The call is part of an investigation by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office into whether Trump or others were inappropriately trying to influence election officials. Mitchell didn’t want to discuss the call or the investigation.
Mitchell’s involvement sparked an outcry in the legal community and led to her departure from her long-term job at the Foley & Lardner law firm. But Mitchell says that has been a blessing.
“One of the great benefits of being fired from my law firm is that I can spend all my time doing something I love,” she said.
Mitchell has two new roles in an emerging conservative voting operation. She runs a $ 10 million initiative with the limited government group FreedomWorks to both push for new restrictions on voting and train conservatives to get involved in the nuts and bolts of local elections. She is also a senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute, an organization run by former Republican Senator Jim DeMint. She says she will use that role to “ coordinate ” conservative voting positions, particularly in opposition to HR 1.
A former Oklahoma state legislator, Mitchell, 70, has ties to other influential players in the conservative movement. She also serves as an outside adviser to the American Legislative Exchange Committee, a conservative group that provides model legislation to state legislators and organized an appeal with state legislators and Texas Senator Ted Cruz about opposition to HR 1.
And Mitchell said she regularly talks to Republican state lawmakers about the need for new electoral laws. She didn’t want to identify who she’s talking to, but said it has been a passion for a long time.
“I’ve been working with the state legislatures for a number of years to give them attention to what I call the political process,” Mitchell said. “I like legislators and working with legislators.”
Nor would she detail her conversations with Trump or say whether they were involved in the new voting fights. “I’m in touch with the president quite often,” she said of Trump.
Repeated audits did not reveal any significant problems with the 2020 elections. Trump and his supporters lost more than 50 lawsuits that contested the results.
Mitchell says she believes the courts have used legal deception to prevent them from ever actually tackling Trump’s allegations of voter fraud.
That evidence had led some conservative groups not to repeat Trump’s baseless claims about electoral fraud, even as they advocated tougher restrictions on who Americans vote.
Mitchell’s role could make that attempt to keep a distance more difficult.
“I’m worried about the election, but I don’t think the election was stolen,” said Noah Wall, FreedomWorks executive vice president. However, Wall said he saw no conflict in the partnership with Mitchell. “When we talk about what we’re going to focus on, I don’t see any daylight between her problems and ours,” Wall said.
Mitchell has a long history in the Conservative movement, serving on the boards of the National Rifle Association and the Bradley Foundation. She represented Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt and was the campaign attorney for several Republican senators. She is also chair of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative electoral law project that she said could get involved in lawsuits against HR 1, should it be passed, or in support of new laws like the one in Georgia.