While President Trump tried to reverse the election results, his personal lawyers showed off in front of television presenters, state election officials and anyone else willing to consider his unfounded allegations of electoral fraud.
But behind the scenes, a long-standing conservative lawyer named Cleta Mitchell helped quietly. His work for Trump first attracted widespread attention over the weekend, when a recording was released of a one-hour conference call when Trump threatened Georgia’s election officials with “a crime” if they couldn’t “find” enough votes to change the state’s presidential results.
On the call, Ms. Mitchell repeatedly jumped to help Trump, showing an intimate level of involvement in his efforts as they made unsubstantiated statements about the election and pressured Georgia officials to hand over election data.
Ms. Mitchell is a partner in the law firm Foley & Lardner, which has more than 1,000 lawyers and an office in almost every major city in the United States and represents large corporations, such as CVS Pharmacy. Her presence on the call stood out because Trump has struggled to attract high-profile lawyers to assist in his attempts to overturn the election, rather than having a group that included Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor. who pressed strange allegations in defense of Trump during his presidency and Sidney Powell, who defended conspiracy theories.
Ms. Mitchell has been advising the president for weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The day after the audio was released, Foley & Lardner sought to distance himself from Mitchell, saying in a statement on Monday that his lawyers should refrain from representing or advising anyone in the election. The company said it was examining Mitchell’s role in Trump’s legal team.
“We are aware of and concerned about Ms. Mitchell’s participation in the January 2 conference call and are working to understand her involvement more deeply,” said the company.
Mrs. Mitchell did not return an email asking for comment.
Although she is affiliated with an established law firm, Mitchell fits the mold of many lawyers who advised Trump during his presidency when he faced a special attorney investigation and impeachment and has now made an illusory effort to void the vote.
Ms. Mitchell has for years represented a number of conservatives, such as Scott Pruitt, the former Trump chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, and organizations like the National Rifle Association. In recent years, she has represented conservative Tea Party groups that have accused the IRS of wrongly targeting them.
During the investigation in Russia, Ms. Mitchell publicly attacked the special attorney, Robert S. Mueller III, in the media, questioning why her team was not examining Hillary Clinton.
Mitchell, 70, began his political career as a Democrat, winning the election to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in his early 20s and serving for almost a decade before campaigning unsuccessfully for vice governor in 1986.
She came to Washington as an activist who was pushing for term limits and registered as a Republican in 1996. She established herself as one of the party’s leading non-profit electoral lawyers, representing her campaign arms for Congress and several of her candidates. , as well as groups that support Republicans, including the NRA, where she also served on the board.
But, unlike most traditional political lawyers, Mitchell maintained a public profile supporting candidates and causes, earning a reputation as an arsonist. She was an important critic of the IRS ‘treatment of nonprofit groups associated with the Tea Party movement during the Obama administration and the state and local restrictions on coronavirus that religious groups opposed last year.
During the Trump administration, Mitchell also represented President Stephen K. Bannon’s former chief strategist non-profit organization, which was examined by federal prosecutors in Manhattan as part of a broad investigation into whether Bannon defrauded donors.
At one point during the weekend, Trump filed an unsubstantiated complaint about Atlanta ballots that were for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“Does anyone know about this?” Mr Trump asked.
“I know about that, but – ”Mitchell said before being interrupted by the president.
“OK, Cleta, I’m not asking. Cleta, honestly. I’m asking Brad, ”said Trump, referring to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Maggie Haberman contributed reports. Sheelagh McNeill contributed to the research.