Jenna Ellis

Jenna Lynn Ellis (born November 1, 1984) is a conservative lawyer known for her work as a member of Donald Trump's legal team. She is a former deputy district attorney in Weld County, Colorado and a former assistant professor of legal studies at Colorado Christian University. As a private lawyer, she has litigated cases in state courts. In 2015, she self-published ''The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution'', a book arguing that the Constitution of the United States can only be interpreted in accordance with the Bible. Since 2018, Ellis has presented herself as a "constitutional law attorney" during cable news appearances, though ''The New York Times'' reported her background did not reflect such expertise and ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported she had no history in any federal cases.

Ellis was a critic of Donald Trump and his supporters in 2015 and early 2016 until he became the 2016 Republican nominee for president, at which point Ellis began voicing support, including in media appearances. Ellis was hired by Trump in November 2019 as a senior legal adviser. From November 2020 to January 2021, Ellis was a member of what she characterized as an "elite strike force team" that made efforts to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. She made unsubstantiated claims that Trump was the actual winner of the election and drafted two memos falsely asserting vice president Mike Pence could change the results.

Early life and education

Ellis was homeschooled by her parents. In 2003, she enrolled at Cedarville University, then transferred to Colorado State University in order to study journalism. In 2011, she received a J.D. degree from the University of Richmond School of Law.

Career

From 2012 to 2013, Ellis served as deputy district attorney in Weld County, Colorado. According to the Weld County District Attorney's office, Ellis worked on misdemeanor cases, including those relating to traffic. Her experience as a prosecutor also covered crimes such as assault and theft in state courts.

Ellis was fired as deputy district attorney after around six months, which she attributed to her insistence that she would not prosecute a case she thought was unethical. Asked by ''The Wall Street Journal'', the Weld County District Attorney's office declined to comment on the matter. '' The Colorado Sun'' published government records in December 2020 indicating Ellis had been fired for "mistakes", including a failure to "adhere" to Colorado's Victim Rights Act. The mistakes were attributed to "deficiencies in her education and experience", ensuring that she retained unemployment benefits despite the firing, stated the records. But the report also stated, "The number of cases in which (Ellis) committed an irreparable, egregious act was not significant compared to the total number of cases she processed. … There are insufficient facts (Ellis) was not performing the duties to the best of her ability." Thus Ellis was eligible for unemployment benefit. The 2020 Trump campaign responded to ''The Colorado Sun'' on Ellis' behalf, stating that this was a "nonstory". Another profile on a Christian site claims that Ellis won a wrongful termination appeal.

With the end of her public sector stint, Ellis went into private practice at law firms based in Northern Colorado. She defended clients in state courts in matters pertaining to assault, domestic abuse, prostitution, and theft. According to Ellis, she also worked in cases regarding immigration and tenancy. Records showed that Ellis took part in approximately 30 state court cases which began from 2012 or 2016, including one state appeals court case; this was described as a 'sparse record' by another Colorado lawyer interviewed by ''The Wall Street Journal''. Court records do not show Ellis having taken part in election law cases, federal judiciary cases, or any cases in the United States district courts or courts of appeals before December 2020.

In 2013, Ellis worked for IE Discovery in one lawsuit involving a contract dispute. IE Discovery is a company that assists the U.S. Department of State in legal discovery matters. Ellis later claimed to have been an "attorney for the U.S. Department of State", though no records exist of her as a State Department employee.

In 2015, Ellis became an affiliate faculty member of Colorado Christian University, and later an assistant professor of legal studies, until her departure in 2018. Ellis taught political science and pre-law to undergraduates. The university does not have a law school.

Ellis self-published a book, ''The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution: A Guide for Christians to Understand America's Constitutional Crisis'', in 2015. She argued that the Constitution of the United States must only be interpreted according to the Bible. Her view of the Supreme Court of the United States legalizing same-sex marriage, in ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', was that it would lead to polygamy and pedophilia becoming accepted. In 2016, Ellis described homosexuals as "sinners" whose "conduct is vile and abominable". Robert Cochran Jr., an expert in Christian law, described Ellis' views as "further to the right" than most conservative Christian legal scholars.

In 2015 and early 2016, while Donald Trump was vying to become the Republican nominee for president, Ellis was a stern critic. In 2015, Ellis wrote on Facebook that Trump was "without love", "treacherous", "abusive", and "unholy". In February 2016, Ellis made various comments on Trump, such as her belief that he wanted to "destroy American democracy", was "one of the greatest threats to our liberty", "cannot handle criticism", and was not a real Christian, because he could not repent. To stop Trump from becoming the nominee, Ellis proposed that the Republican Party set up a brokered convention.

In March 2016, Ellis criticized Trump's supporters, stating that they "DON'T CARE about facts or logic. They aren't seeking truth", but are "narcissists"; that supporters ignored how Trump was an "unethical, corrupt, lying, criminal, dirtbag"; that arguments in support of Trump are "ridiculously illogical, inconsistent, and blatantly stupid", and that Trump "cannot be trusted to be consistent or accurate in anything".

After Trump became the Republican nominee for president, Ellis expressed support for him in the 2016 general election.

In 2017, Ellis became a writer for the ''Washington Examiner'', where she falsely claimed to have a history of being a "professor of constitutional law". Colorado Christian University does not have a constitutional law program. ''The New York Times'' reports that Ellis has made appearances on Denver radio shows as a legal commentator, although the ''Times'' does not state when this was. In 2018, Ellis left Colorado Christian University to work for the , as director of its public policy division, the .

By late 2018, Ellis was defending Trump in cable news appearances, as well as alleging bias in the FBI, presenting herself as a "constitutional law attorney". By 2019, Ellis had often been featured by Fox News as a guest.

In 2020, Ellis became the special counsel for the Thomas More Society, a conservative group that has filed 2020 election-related lawsuits via the Amistad Project organization. The Amistad Project cited Ellis as one of their "Leadership and Advisory Board" members. Ellis and the Thomas More Society have stated that Ellis is not working for Amistad. Ellis also stated that Amistad had cited her as a board member without her approval.

Legal advisor for Trump campaign

In November 2019, Ellis was hired as a senior legal adviser for Trump and his 2020 re-election campaign. ''Axios'' reported that Trump had discussed being swayed by Ellis' media appearances. The Trump campaign paid Ellis $3,900 in December 2019, then paid her almost $140,000 in October 2020 for legal consulting fees. Ellis was paid $30,000 in November 2020 by the campaign. In mid-November 2020, Ellis acknowledged her previous criticisms of Trump in 2015; stating that her past opinions were "completely wrong", because she "didn't know him" personally at the time, and she eventually "saw him keeping his promises".

A ''Washington Post'' report narrated the following events: after all major news organizations projected Trump's Democratic opponent
Joe Biden's victory on November 7, Trump's advisers and campaign staff were pessimistic about Trump's chances of prevailing. Trump's main lawyers were particularly discouraged by a November 13 defeat of Trump allies in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (''Bognet v. Boockvar'') that decided that the plaintiffs had no standing to sue under the Constitution's electors clause in the Pennsylvania case. Ellis and Trump's
personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani were far more optimistic about his prospects. ''The Washington Post'' report described Ellis as Giuliani's
"protege".

On November 14, Trump announced a legal team to challenge the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results for his campaign, naming Ellis as a member of the team, along with Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing, Sidney Powell, and team leader Giuliani. According to ''The Washington Post'', after Trump's announcement, Ellis and Giuliani privately staged "a hostile takeover" of the Trump campaign from Trump's other advisers and campaign staff, resulting in Ellis, Giuliani and Powell gaining the foremost public roles regarding Trump's post-election efforts. On November 19, Ellis spoke at a press conference alongside Powell and Giuliani, with Giuliani stating that all three of them represent Trump and his campaign, and Ellis declaring that they were "an elite strike force team" assisting Trump. However, Powell soon left the team; Ellis and Giuliani stated on November 22 that Powell "is not a member of the Trump Legal Team", nor is she a personal lawyer for Trump.

During the November 19 press conference, Ellis declined to present evidence of fraud when asked to do so. Instead, she responded that asking for evidence at the press conference was "fundamentally flawed". She said that the Trump campaign would only provide "a preview of what we’ve discovered" at the press conference, while the actual evidence would be given to a court.

In the midst of a case regarding Michigan, the Trump campaign requested permission to amend their complaint but erroneously signed the judge's name as if he had already permitted them. Ellis claimed that this was no error, but actually a "courtesy" to the judge so that he would only need to approve the amendment with the judge's seal. However, when the Trump campaign refiled the request, they removed the judge's name, indicating that their previous signing was indeed an error.

The Trump campaign's federal lawsuit regarding Pennsylvania was dismissed with prejudice with the judge citing "strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations" which were "unsupported by evidence". Ellis and Giuliani reacted by stating that the ruling "helps" the Trump campaign "get expeditiously to the U.S. Supreme Court". They also indicated that the judge, Matthew W. Brann, was "Obama-appointed", though Brann is also a Republican and a former member of the right-leaning Federalist Society.

The Trump campaign appealed the Pennsylvania lawsuit to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel ruled that the Trump campaign "cannot win this lawsuit"; having provided neither "specific allegations" nor "proof", their "claims have no merit". Giuliani and Ellis reacted by condemning the "activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania". Of the three Appeal Court judges, Stephanos Bibas (who wrote the panel's opinion) was appointed by Trump himself, while D. Brooks Smith and Michael Chagares were appointed by Republican president George W. Bush.

On November 23, even after the General Services Administration recognized Joe Biden as the apparent winner of the 2020 election, Ellis baselessly claimed that the "election was stolen and President Trump won by a landslide".

Also on November 25, Ellis and Giuliani appeared in front of the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee. There, Ellis urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to fix a "corrupted, irredeemably compromised election" by either arranging for a new, "special election", or to "direct the manner of your electors", indicating that the lawmakers should not select presidential electors who would support Pennsylvania's popular vote winner (Joe Biden).

On November 30, Ellis and Giuliani met with Arizona lawmakers, where they again urged for the popular vote result (Joe Biden's victory) in the state to be ignored, suggesting that lawmakers should not appoint pro-Biden presidential electors. The Arizona House Speaker rejected Ellis and Giuliani's request.

On December 1, 2020, the Trump administration's Attorney General, William Barr, stated that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security had investigated "systemic fraud", whether "machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results", and that "so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that". On whether fraud had cost Trump the election, Barr said he had not seen evidence of that yet. Ellis and Giuliani reacted by accusing the Department of Justice of failing to investigate fraud.

On December 2, Ellis and Giuliani met with Michigan's House Oversight Committee, where they urged the lawmakers to ignore the certified results of a Biden victory. Ellis personally urged the lawmakers to intervene in the election, however, Michigan law mandates that the state's electoral votes must go to the winner of the state's popular vote. Michigan's potential presidential electors had been chosen earlier that year, and Michigan lawmakers could not do anything at that point to appoint other presidential electors.

On December 4, Ellis and Giuliani met state lawmakers in Georgia, making efforts to overturn the 2020 election result.

On December 8, 2020, ''Axios'' reported that Ellis had told associates that she tested positive for COVID-19. ABC News and CNN corroborated the story. However, Ellis refused to confirm the story to ''Axios''. Giuliani confirmed Ellis' diagnosis later that day. Ellis had not worn a mask at a December 2 meeting with Michigan lawmakers and at a December 4 White House party, while on December 6, it was reported that Giuliani himself had tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, in late November, Ellis and Giuliani ignored Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to quarantine themselves despite coming into close contact with a known infected COVID-19 case: Boris Epshteyn, a Trump campaign adviser.

On New Year's Eve 2020, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent a memo drafted by Ellis to a top Pence aide containing a detailed plan to overturn the election results. The plan entailed Pence returning the electoral results to six battleground states on January 6, with a deadline of January 15 for the states to return them. If any state did not return their electoral slate by that date, neither Trump nor Biden would hold a majority, so the election would be thrown to the House for a vote to determine the winner. Per the Constitution, in such a scenario the vote would be conducted based on state delegations made up of their respective House members with each state having one vote. With Republicans holding 26 of 50, that would presumably give Trump the victory.

Ellis drafted a second memo dated January 5 which she shared with Trump personal attorney, Jay Sekulow. The memo argued that certain provisions of the Electoral Count Act that restricted Pence's authority to accept or reject selected electors were unconstitutional. She proposed that when Pence reached Arizona in the alphabetical order during the certification, he could declare the state's results as disputed and send all the electoral slates back to the states for "the final ascertainment of electors to be completed before continuing". Sekulow did not agree that Pence had such authority.

Ellis was subpoenaed in January 2022 to testify before the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. When called before the committee, she pleaded the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

Following the Trump campaign

In April 2022, Ellis criticized the effort to repeal the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, calling it "misguided" and arguing that Disney has the " right to speak" and take a position on whether to support or oppose legislation "without government consequences."

In June 2022, Doug Mastriano appointed Ellis his senior legal adviser in his campaign for governor of Pennsylvania. At one of Mastriano's campaign events in Erie, Ellis called Mastriano the "Donald Trump of Pennsylvania". In October 2022, Ellis posted on Twitter that Mastriano's opponent "Josh Shapiro is at best a secular Jew in the same way Joe Biden is a secular Catholic — both are extremists for gender transition surgeries on minors and no limits on abortion. Doug Mastriano is for wholesome family values and freedom."

In November 2022, Ellis claimed that the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting was being exploited to present a narrative where "Christians hate homosexual and transgender individuals and somehow that 'hate' led to the shooting", before going on to suggest that there was "no evidence at all" that the five people killed during the shooting were Christians and thus, "assuming that ..they had not accepted the truth of the gospel of Christ and affirmed Jesus Christ as the lord of their life, they are now reaping the consequences of having eternal damnation ..Instead of just the tragedy of what happened to the body, we need to be talking about what happened to the soul and the fact that they are now in eternal separation from our lord and savior Jesus Christ." She later rejected any claims of having judged the victims or of being hateful towards them, but continued to insist on her assumption that they were not Christians and so were "eternally separated from Christ" as a result.

In May 2022, the States United Democracy Center filed a complaint with the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel where it alleged that Ellis had committed multiple violations of professional rules during her work for the Trump legal team. In December, it was reported that the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel was investigating Ellis in relation to the complaint.

Publications

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References

External links

Jenna Ellis
on Gab
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Jenna
1984 births
21st-century American lawyers
21st-century American women lawyers
Cedarville University alumni
Colorado Christian University faculty
Colorado lawyers
Colorado State University alumni
Conservatism in the United States
Living people
University of Richmond School of Law alumni
Colorado Republicans
Colorado Independents