Cleta Mitchell, the conservative lawyer who can be heard interjecting in the now-infamous call between President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, resigned from her role as partner at the Washington office of law firm Foley & Lardner on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.
Mitchell, who advised Trump during his Saturday phone call with Raffensperger in an effort to overturn the presidential election, could be heard multiple times during the call helping the president as he made unsubstantiated claims regarding the election and demanding that the secretary of state release election data.
“So, what are we going to do here, folks?” Trump asked Raffensperger and his aides during an hourlong telephone conversation Saturday. “I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”
The 70-year-old litigator’s resignation came after her law firm on Monday issued a statement saying it was “concerned by” her participation in the call, according to The Washington Post. The firm noted that as a matter of policy, its attorneys do not represent “any parties seeking to contest the results of the election.”
“We are aware of, and are concerned by, Ms. Mitchell’s participation in the Jan. 2 conference call and are working to understand her involvement more thoroughly,” the firm said.
Mitchell had been a partner at the law firm Foley & Lardner, which employs 1,000 lawyers and hosts offices in almost every major city in the United States. The firm has represented such major companies as CVS. According to several reports, the president had struggled to find a high-profile attorney to handle the lawsuits he wished to pursue to overturn the election. Mitchell and longtime adviser Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and Sidney Powell, had all offered legal counsel to Trump since the election on Nov. 3, which he has disputed the outcome of for weeks.
In its statement Tuesday, the law firm said: “Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately. 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.”
Mitchell, who was formerly a member of the Democratic Party, declined to comment to The Washington Post. However, in a letter obtained by the publication Tuesday, Mitchell addressed her friends and clients and made no reference to the conversation Saturday leading to her exit. Instead, she put blame on what she referred to as “leftist groups” that pushed for a “massive pressure campaign in the last several days.”
“Those who deny the existence of voter and election fraud are not in touch with facts and reality,” she wrote.
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