How Cleta Mitchell Turned Trump’s “Big Lie” Into a Movement

Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker/ProPublica. Source images: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Win McNamee/Getty Images. In July, not long before President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address questioning the legitimacy of American elections, the pioneering conservative election lawyer Cleta Mitchell and about two dozen of her associates logged onto a private video briefing with the White House. Mitchell, who holds no formal position in the Trump administration, had been pivotal to Trump’s bid to challenge his loss in 2020, spearheading efforts to prove his claims of fraud and reverse his defeat in court. After Joe Biden took office, when others abandoned the fight or scoffed as Trump clung to conspiracy theories, Mitchell doubled down, founding a grassroots organization devoted to rewriting election laws and rules to be more restrictive.