Donald Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis leaves GOP; official called her election claims 'a joke'

WASHINGTON – A lawyer who worked on Donald Trump's election challenges says she is leaving the Republican Party in the wake of reports that an RNC official described her election fraud claims as "a joke."

"The Republican Party has failed Donald Trump and true conservatives under swamp leadership," attorney Jenna Ellis tweeted Monday about the latest dispute between Trump loyalists and GOP leadership, particularly the Republican National Committee.

In a November email, RNC chief counsel Justin Riemer said Ellis and fellow Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani were pushing nonsensical conspiracy theories about election procedures in President Joe Biden's victory, according to a new book by author Michael Wolff.

“What Rudy and Jenna are doing is a joke and they are getting laughed out of court,” Riemer said in an email. “They are misleading millions of people who have wishful thinking that the president is going to somehow win this thing.”

Numerous state election officials and judges rejected Trump's claims of voter fraud.

More: By the numbers: President Donald Trump's failed efforts to overturn the election

More: Marge Simpson speaks: She feels 'disrespected' about Jenna Ellis' Kamala Harris comparison

Ellis, who discussed her decision to leave the GOP on media outlets Real America's Voice and Newsmax, said the Riemer email proves that Republican Party officials did not fight hard enough for Trump.

Ellis, Giuliani, and allies have called for Riemer's removal, but he remains the RNC chief counsel.

"I am leaving the Republican Party until the Republican Party comes back home to conservatives," Ellis told Newsmax.

In a written statement to the Post, Riemer said he led the RNC's legal team in more than 55 lawsuits on behalf of Trump's re-election, and "any suggestion that I did not support President Trump or do everything in my power to support the RNC’s efforts to reelect President Trump is false."

Riemer did not deny that he found other legal efforts lacked merit.

"I will say publicly now what I then said privately," he said: "I take issue with individuals who brought lawsuits that did not serve President Trump well and did not give him the best chance in court.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jenna Ellis, Trump lawyer, exits GOP; official calls her work 'a joke'