Court Battles

Colorado judge orders Trump legal adviser to appear in Georgia probe

A Colorado judge has ordered attorney Jenna Ellis to travel to testify before the Georgia special grand jury investigating whether former President Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

Judge Gregory Lammons of Colorado’s 8th Judicial District approved a request to compel Ellis to travel from her Colorado home to Georgia to testify, CNN reported on Tuesday.

Ellis was subpoenaed in July along with several other Trump allies and legal advisers, including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Cleta Mitchell.

In the July subpoena, shared by Georgia Public Broadcasting, Ellis is identified as “an attorney for the Trump Campaign’s legal efforts seeking to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) noted actions by Ellis that appear to be “part of a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”

Ellis reportedly authored memos advising that then-Vice President Mike Pence disregard the electoral college votes certified by Congress for “contested” states like Georgia, according to the subpoena. 

Willis also noted a December 2020 appearance by Ellis before the Georgia Senate, during which she shared a video “that purported to show election workers producing ‘suitcases’ of unlawful ballots from unknown sources, outside the view of election poll watchers.”

The video was shortly thereafter discredited and the fraud claims were dismissed, but the subpoena alleges Ellis continued to make election fraud claims. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) have also been subpoenaed to appear before the Georgia special grand jury. 

Former New York City Mayor Giuliani was informed Monday that he’s a main focus of the probe, and his testimony is expected later this week.

The Hill has reached out to Willis in Georgia as well as Colorado’s 8th Judicial District for more information.