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Jenna Ellis, ex-Trump campaign legal adviser, has Colorado law license suspended for 3 years
Washington — Jenna Ellis, who served as a legal adviser to former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election, is barred from practicing law in the state of Colorado for three years, according to an agreement reached with state legal regulators.
Under the deal approved Tuesday by a presiding disciplinary judge of the Colorado Supreme Court, Ellis’ suspension of her law license takes effect July 2. The disciplinary proceedings stemmed from Ellis’ indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, for her alleged role in a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. She, Trump and 17 others were initially charged in the sprawling racketeering case brought by Fulton County prosecutors last August.
Ellis pleaded guilty in October to a single felony charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writing in violation of Georgia law and was sentenced to five years probation. The charge was connected to false statements about the election made by then-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and another Trump campaign attorney before a Georgia Senate subcommittee in December 2020.
A Colorado native, Ellis faced disbarment in the state and had been censured in March 2023 as a result of baseless claims she made about the integrity of the 2020 election while serving as a legal adviser to Trump and his campaign. The former president and his allies had falsely claimed that the election was rigged against him, though there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
The stipulation entered into by Colorado’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel and Ellis noted that while “disbarment is the presumptive sanction” for her misconduct, “it is significant that her criminal culpability was due to her conduct as an accessory, not as a principal.”
In a letter dated May 22 that was written by Ellis as part of the stipulation, she said she wanted to express “deep remorse” for her conduct surrounding the 2020 election and was “wrong to be involved” in activities that spread baseless claims that the last presidential contest was rife with voter fraud.
“I admit that I was overly zealous in believing the ‘facts’ being peddled to support the challenge, which were manufactured and false,” Ellis wrote. “Had I done my duty in investigating these alleged facts before promoting them as the truth, I do not believe I would be here. I turned a blind eye to the possibility that senior lawyers for the Trump Campaign were embracing claims they knew or should have known were false. I just went along with it. I was wrong.”
She said that millions of Americans have been “misled” by what she said was the “cynical” campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
“For democracy to function and thrive, the people have to believe that their votes count and that the electoral system is fair. This is what ‘election integrity’ should mean, rather than what it has become for many: a political statement of ‘loyalty,'” Ellis wrote. “This faith in the integrity of our elections was damaged. That is the harm.”
She said she “gratefully accepts” the three-year suspension for practicing law in the state of Colorado and reiterated her regret for becoming involved in spreading false claims about the election.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.