Colorado lawyer Jenna Ellis subpoenaed by Jan. 6 committee

The U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena to Colorado attorney Jenna Ellis, who served as personal counsel to former President Donald Trump. 

Ellis, 37, is accused of promoting claims that the 2020 election was stolen and participating in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of the election results based on her allegations, according to a redacted letter sent to Ellis on Tuesday by the chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi. The letter alleges that between mid-November 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, Ellis sought to convince state legislators to take steps to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. 

Three other members of Trump’s legal team, Rudolph Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Boris Epshteyn, were also issued subpoenas Tuesday. 

“The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Thompson said in a statement Tuesday, referring to Ellis, Giuliani, Powell and Epshteyn. “We expect these individuals to join the nearly 400 witnesses who have spoken with the Select Committee as the committee works to get answers for the American people about the violent attack on our democracy.”

Ellis is also accused of preparing and circulating two memos claiming to analyze the constitutional authority for the vice president to reject or delay counting electoral votes from states that had submitted alternate slates of electors, according to Tuesday’s statement. 

“The committee is just mad they can’t date me,” Ellis tweeted Wednesday morning. 

Over the summer, the House of Representatives voted to establish a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, which began as a rally and resulted in armed Trump supporters storming the Capitol during a joint session of the U.S. Congress, which was in the process of confirming the results from the 2020 presidential election. Among the Colorado congressional delegation, Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn voted against establishing a committee to investigate the attack and Democratic Reps. Jason Crow, Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse and Ed Perlmutter voted in favor. Five people died and hundreds were injured, including law enforcement officers, during the insurrection. Multiple Colorado residents have been arrested and charged with crimes in connection to the attack. 

Giuliani is accused of promoting claims of election fraud and being in contact with then-President Trump about strategies for delaying or overturning the election results, according to the statement, and Powell is accused of promoting claims of election fraud on behalf of Trump in litigation and public appearances. Epshteyn is accused of having a call with Trump on the morning of Jan. 6 to “discuss options to delay the certification of election results in the event of Vice President Pence’s unwillingness to deny or delay the certification.”

Ellis became the senior legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign and to the president, in November 2019, according to Axios. 

Colorado ties

Ellis previously worked as a Weld County prosecutor but was allegedly fired for making mistakes on cases, according to reporting done by The Colorado Sun. 

Ellis taught law, ethics and leadership courses at Colorado Christian University between 2015 and 2018. She received a bachelor degree in journalism from Colorado State University and attended law school at the University of Richmond, according to her Linkedin profile. 

Election fraud 

Other high-profile Colorado officials have promoted unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, including Lamborn and Buck, who joined a lawsuit in December 2020 attempting to delay the certification of presidential election results from several states that President Joe Biden won. Prior to the Jan. 6 attack, Boebert and Lamborn announced that they would contest presidential electoral votes. 

Boebert has also made unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. 

Two organizers of a rally that led to the insurrection told Rolling Stone that they were in communication with Boebert. Boebert denied these allegations. 

Last week, the committee subpoenaed several social media companies, including Reddit and Twitter.