Challengers of NC law want court to force former Trump lawyer to comply with subpoena
Plaintiffs in a North Carolina election lawsuit have asked a federal court to compel Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who advised former President Donald Trump, to respond to their subpoena.
The motion, filed in court on Wednesday, alleges that Mitchell influenced the creation of Senate Bill 747, a wide-ranging piece of election legislation that’s at the center of several federal lawsuits.
The plaintiffs are seeking documents from Mitchell and the North Carolina Election Integrity Team, with which she’s affiliated. According to the filing, they’ve make six attempts to serve Mitchell a subpoena in person — all of which have failed.
“Plaintiffs have reason to believe that both Mitchell and NCEIT are actively evading service and require the court’s intervention,” the filing said.
Mitchell, who has ties to North Carolina, was on the infamous phone call in which Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find him the votes he needed to win.
A grand jury in Georgia recommended charges against Mitchell for her involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but she was not charged.
Top GOP lawmakers met with Mitchell before filing Senate Bill 747, sparking criticism from Democrats.
“And here they go with advice from election deniers and fraud perpetrators,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a tweet last year. “Don’t be fooled. This isn’t about protecting elections. It’s about rigging them to help Republicans.”
Republican leaders said Mitchell did not have any role in drafting the bill.
“Ms. Mitchell or anyone else has not written the bill, has not markedly — or to any appreciable extent that I know of — changed what the members were intending to do,” Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters in June.
This story was originally published January 31, 2024 at 6:07 PM.
