Jenna Ellis

Jenna Ellis (born 1983 or 1984)[1] is an American lawyer, known for her work as a member of Donald Trump's legal team.[2] She is a former deputy district attorney in Weld County, Colorado and a former assistant professor of legal studies at Colorado Christian University.[2] As a private lawyer, she has litigated cases in state courts.[2] 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.[1] 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.[1][2]

Jenna Ellis
Ellis at press conference in 2020
Born1983/1984 (age 36–37)
EducationColorado State University (BA)
University of Richmond (JD)
OccupationAttorney, assistant professor of legal studies
Known forLegal advisor for Donald Trump

Ellis was a stern 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.[2][3] Ellis was hired by Trump in November 2019 as a senior legal adviser.[2][4] In November 2020, Trump announced that Ellis was part of the legal team conducting efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.[5] However, Ellis has yet to join any such lawsuit on paper or in court.[2] Ellis has baselessly claimed that Trump was the actual winner of the election.[6] She has met state lawmakers in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan, urging the state legislatures to avoid appointing pro-Biden presidential electors even though Biden won the popular vote in those states.

Early life

Ellis was homeschooled by her parents, said her father Dave Ellis.[7] In 2003, she enrolled at Cedarville University, then in 2004 transferred to the Colorado State University in order to study journalism.[8] In 2011, she received a law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law.[2][9]

Career

From 2012 to 2013, Ellis served as deputy district attorney in Weld County, Colorado.[2] According to the Weld County District Attorney's office, Ellis worked on misdemeanor cases, including those relating to traffic.[1] Her experience as a prosecutor also covered crimes such as assault and theft in state courts.[2]

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.[1] Asked by The Wall Street Journal, the Weld County District Attorney's office declined to comment on the matter.[1] 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. The 2020 Trump campaign responded to The Colorado Sun on Ellis' behalf, stating that this was a "nonstory".[10]

With the end of her public sector stint, Ellis went into private practice at law firms based in Northern Colorado.[2] She defended clients in state courts in matters pertaining to assault, domestic abuse, prostitution, and theft.[1][2] According to Ellis, she also worked in cases regarding immigration and tenancy.[2] 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.[1] 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.[1][2]

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.[1] 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.[1]

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.[2] In her tenure, Ellis taught political science and pre-law to undergraduates.[2] The university does not have a law school.[1][2]

That same year, Ellis self-published a book titled The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution: A Guide for Christians to Understand America's Constitutional Crisis.[2] She argued that the Constitution of the United States must only be interpreted according to the Bible.[2] 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.[1] In 2016, Ellis described homosexuals as "sinners" whose "conduct is vile and abominable".[2] Robert Cochran Jr., an expert in Christian law, described Ellis' views as "further to the right" than most conservative Christian legal scholars.[1]

In 2015 and early 2016, while Donald Trump was vying to become the Republican nominee for president, Ellis was a stern critic.[3] In 2015, Ellis wrote on Facebook that Trump was "without love", "treacherous", "abusive", and "unholy".[3] 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.[3] To stop Trump from becoming the nominee, Ellis proposed that the Republican Party set up a brokered convention.[3]

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";[3] 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".[3]

After Trump became the Republican nominee for president, Ellis expressed support for him in the 2016 general election.[3]

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".[2] Colorado Christian University does not have a constitutional law program.[2] 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.[2] In 2018, Ellis left Colorado Christian University to work for evangelical James Dobson's Family Institute, as director of its public policy division.[2][11]

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."[2] By 2019, Ellis had often been featured by Fox News as a guest.[4]

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.[12]

Ellis speaking with Rudy Giuliani
Main article: Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 United States presidential election

In November 2019, Ellis was hired as a senior legal adviser for Trump and his 2020 re-election campaign.[2][4] Axios reported that Trump had discussed being swayed by Ellis' media appearances.[4] The Trump campaign paid Ellis $3,900 in December 2019, then paid her almost $140,000 in October 2020 for legal consulting fees.[1] Ellis was paid $30,000 in November 2020 by the campaign.[13] 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".[3]

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.[14] 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)[15] that decided that the plaintiffs had no standing to sue under the Constitution's electors clause in the Pennsylvania case.[14] Ellis and Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani were far more optimistic about his prospects.[14] The Washington Post report described Ellis as Giuliani's "protege".[14]

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.[2][5] 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.[14] 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.[16][17] 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.[16]

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.[18]

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.[19]

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 pointed out 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.[20][21]

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."[22][23] Giuliani and Ellis reacted by condemning the "activist judicial machinery in Pennsylvania".[22] 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.[24]

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".[6]

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).[25][26][27]

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.[28][29] The Arizona House Speaker rejected Ellis and Giuliani's request.[30]

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.[31]

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.[32][33]

On December 4, Ellis and Giuliani met state lawmakers in Georgia, making efforts to overturn the 2020 election result.[34][35]

On December 8, 2020, Axios reported that Ellis had told associates that she tested positive for COVID-19.[36] ABC News and CNN corroborated the story.[37][38] However, Ellis refused to confirm the story to Axios.[36] Giuliani confirmed Ellis' diagnosis later that day.[39] 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.[36][40] 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.[38]"[41]

Publications
  • Ellis, Jenna (2015). The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution: A Guide for Christians to Understand America's Constitutional Crisis. Westbow Press. ISBN 978-1-5127-2274-1. OCLC 1147800122.

References
  1. Maremont, Mark; Ramey, Corinne; Ballhaus, Rebecca; Cho, Elisa (December 3, 2020). "How Jenna Ellis Rose From Traffic Court to Trump's Legal Team". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  2. Peters, Jeremy W.; Feuer, Alan (December 3, 2020). "How Is Trump's Lawyer Jenna Ellis 'Elite Strike Force' Material?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  3. Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em; McDermott, Nathan (November 19, 2020). "Trump's legal adviser Jenna Ellis in 2016 called him an 'idiot' and said his supporters didn't care about 'facts or logic'". CNN. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  4. Swan, Jonathan (November 24, 2019). "Jenna Ellis is the latest Fox News guest to become a Trump adviser". Axios. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  5. Stracqualursi, Veronica (November 16, 2020). "Trump puts Giuliani in charge of post-election legal fight after series of losses". CNN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
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  8. "Turning Difficulty Into Ministry". Cedarville University. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
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