(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A former Trump lawyer lost her position on a federal election advisory board after a left-wing activist group threatened to launch a public complaint campaign against the group if she was re-appointed, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.
Cleta Mitchell, former Trump advisor and conservative lawyer, was not reappointed to her former seat on the advisory board for the Election Assistance Commission, which she secured initially in November 2021.
According to emails that the Daily Caller obtained, Mitchell likely would have retained her position had the left-wing lawfare organization Free Speech for People not intervened and threatened to go on a public smear campaign.
The group, led by president and co-founder John Bonifaz, gained notoriety for its efforts to force Trump off the ballot in several blue-run states including Colorado, Maine and Illinois—all of which planned to use baseless allegations of “insurrection” until a unanimous Supreme Court decision quashed the moonshot legal strategy.
In November 2023, Bonifaz sent an ultimatum threatening to unleash a mob of angry activists on the EAC if it did not comply with his demands.
“I am writing as a courtesy to let you know that, unless we hear from you by tomorrow, November 29, at 5 pm ET that the [United States Commission on Civil Rights] has decided not to reappoint Cleta Mitchell, we plan to launch a public campaign criticizing the USCCR for this decision, including by publicizing a copy of your 10/5/23 email below to me, which as you know is public record,” Bonifaz wrote to USCCR General Counsel David Ganz.
The referenced email from Ganz reportedly speculated on alternative means of removing Mitchell once her term had expired.
Bonifaz also threatened to tell left-wing media outlets to continue to badger the EAC for allowing a conservative on its board.
“I wanted to let you know about this so you’re not surprised if e.g. you or the Commission receive media calls.”
The following day Free Speech for People published a story on its website noting that Mitchell would not be reappointed, calling her “an election denier and former Trump lawyer.”
Brianna Cea, executive director and founder of the leftist group Generation Vote, claimed that Mitchell “ridiculed young voters” and “called for efforts to curtail the youth vote after young people turned out in record numbers across the country.”
Cea added that she was “thrilled” that the “election denier and youth vote suppressor … will no longer serve on the advisory board for the Election Assistance Commission.”
