Attorney on Trump call with Georgia secretary of state resigns from law firm

Cleta Mitchell, an attorney on President Trump’s controversial phone call with Georgia’s secretary of state over the weekend, has resigned from her position at law firm Foley & Lardner.

“Cleta Mitchell has informed firm management of her decision to resign from Foley & Lardner effective immediately,” a spokesman for the firm said in a statement. “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 attracted attention after The Washington Post published audio of Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), on Sunday that revealed she was one of the individuals who participated on the call.  

She was introduced by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as “not the attorney of record but someone who has been involved.” Mitchell interjected multiple times during the phone call in an attempt to bolster Trump’s allegations of fraud. 

Trump on the call pressured Raffensperger to “find” more than 11,000 votes to overturn his election loss in Georgia, at times employing heated language directed at the Georgia official.

Mitchell was, until Tuesday, a partner at Foley & Lardner. The firm initially sought to distance itself from Mitchell following the revelation of the phone call and expressed concern at her involvement. 

“Foley & Lardner LLP is not representing any parties seeking to contest the results of the presidential election. In November, the firm made a policy decision not to take on any representation of any party in connection with matters related to the presidential election results,” the firm said Monday. “Our policy did allow our attorneys to participate in observing election recounts and similar actions on a voluntary basis in their individual capacity as private citizens so long as they did not act as legal advisers.”

“We are aware of, and are concerned by, Ms. Mitchell’s participation in the January 2 conference call and are working to understand her involvement more thoroughly,” the firm said. 

The law firm did not disclose the reason for Mitchell’s departure Tuesday.

The news came after several news outlets reported on her involvement in the president’s efforts following publication of the phone call with Raffensperger. The New York Times reported that she has been advising Trump for weeks.