Charges recommended but not brought in Georgia against lawyer pushing for NC voting changes

An attorney advising former President Donald Trump, who has ties to North Carolina and has pushed for changes in the state’s election laws, was recommended for charges due to her alleged involvement in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

A special grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, recommended that Cleta Mitchell face charges, but Mitchell has not been charged in the case. A judge ordered Friday the release of the special grand jury’s recommendations, including proposed charges against Mitchell of:

• criminal solicitation to commit election fraud.

• influencing witnesses.

• forgery.

• criminal solicitation.

• intentional interference with performance of election duties.

• concealment of facts and fraudulent documents in matters within jurisdiction of state or political subdivisions.

• false official certificates or writings by officers or employees of state and political subdivisions.

• two counts of false statements and writings.

Mitchell found herself on a list that includes names like Rep. Lindsay Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and former Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, Republicans from Georgia.

Twenty-six Fulton County residents served on the special grand jury, though three of its members were alternates. They heard from 75 witnesses over a six-month period.

“The Grand Jury heard extensive testimony on the subject of alleged election fraud from poll workers, investigators, technical experts, and State of Georgia employees and officials, as well as from persons still claiming that such fraud took place,” they wrote in a court document. “We find by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”

Mitchell is not a North Carolina native, but moved to Pinehurst. She has close ties to the family of former Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican from Highlands, who went on to serve as Trump’s chief of staff.

The recommended charges against Mitchell stemmed from two specific events in a scheme to help Trump retain the White House in 2021.

The first occurred on Dec. 14, 2020, when 16 Republicans met at the Georgia State Capitol and signed documents falsely claiming that Trump won the Georgia electoral college. The second occurred on Jan. 2, 2021, when Mitchell participated in a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump demanded Raffensperger find the extra votes he needed to win. Audio of that phone call has since been leaked to the media.

More broadly, Mitchell was also swept up in allegations in the grand jury recommendations that there was a nationwide effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election focused on Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. At least three people with ties to North Carolina were recommended for those charges, including Meadows and Sidney Powell, an attorney from the Triangle who now resides in Texas.

The Fulton County district attorney’s office ultimately charged both Powell and Meadows for their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, but not Mitchell. Powell is also believed to be an unnamed co-conspirator in a federal case regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Earlier this year, reports uncovered that Mitchell, who now leads the Election Integrity Network, met with North Carolina lawmakers and gave a presentation to Republican donors.

North Carolina Republicans have proposed stricter election rules this year. A vote was expected this week on an elections-related bill, which drew protests at the state Legislative Building, but legislators punted the bill to another week.