Additional archive dossier fields
- Profession
- Attorney / election-law activist
- CPI role
- Senior Legal Fellow
- Founded
- Election Integrity Network
- Core relevance
- Legal expertise + national election-organizing infrastructure
Related reading from the archive dossier
Archive profile record
Election lawyer and longtime conservative legal activist who serves as a CPI senior legal fellow and founded the Election Integrity Network, a national state-coalition and training infrastructure focused on election administration.
Why this entry is in the archive: Her listed roles connect CPI, FAIR and EIN. Those roles document positions, not control over the organizations or a continuous path for particular donor dollars.
Additional archived dossier material
Legal and political career
Mitchell has worked for decades in campaign, nonprofit and election law and became a prominent conservative election-law figure.
Her later work moved beyond individual legal representation toward building permanent election-focused activist infrastructure.
Election Integrity Network
EIN's own materials say it was created in 2021 under Mitchell's leadership and originally incubated by CPI.
The network emphasizes state coalitions, training, local election-process monitoring and year-round organizing rather than a single election cycle.
CPI connection
Mitchell serves as a CPI senior legal fellow. CPI's role in incubating EIN is stronger evidence than simple ideological proximity because both organizations describe the relationship directly.
FAIR leadership
FAIR’s 2025 Form 990 lists Mitchell as president and director. The same filing lists Heather Honey as vice president and director, grants to Election Integrity Network and Election Research Institute, and consulting payments to Verity Vote LLC.
CPI’s separate filings list contributions to FAIR. These records document organizational ties and distinct transfers; they do not trace one donor’s dollars continuously from CPI to a particular FAIR recipient.
Evidence limits
EIN's organizational relationship with state groups does not establish common ownership of their data or direct operational control.
Mitchell's network relationships do not establish that EIN supplied the federal voter datasets later associated with Heather Honey or DHS.
Overview
Cleta Mitchell has worked in election, campaign-finance and political law for decades. Her public affiliations include legal work for the Trump campaign in Georgia, a senior legal fellowship at CPI, and leadership of the Election Integrity Network.
Legal career
Mitchell holds a law degree from the University of Oklahoma and has practiced election, campaign finance and political law. CPI and EIN identify her as a senior legal fellow at CPI and the founder of the Election Integrity Network.[1][2]
2020 presidential election aftermath
Mitchell worked voluntarily with Trump's legal team in Georgia after the 2020 election, according to her published CPI biography. She and Mark Meadows participated in the January 2, 2021 call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.[1][3]
The House January 6 committee's final report discusses the call and the disputed allegations presented to Georgia officials. The committee's findings must be attributed as investigative findings, not as a criminal conviction of Mitchell.[4]
Election Integrity Network
EIN says Mitchell founded it in 2021 and that the network was incubated by CPI. It describes its work as organizing and educating election volunteers and local groups.[5][2]
A detailed October 2026 ProPublica investigation examined Mitchell's organizing, networks and financial relationships. That reporting provides additional context, but its conclusions should be read alongside the underlying records and attributed to the publication.[6]
Evidence limits
An affiliation, legal representation, organizational role or shared appearance on a call establishes only that specific relationship. No one should infer criminal liability from a personnel diagram.[3][1]
Timeline
- Volunteers on Trump's legal team in Georgia after the election. [1]
- Participates in January 2 Georgia call with Meadows and Trump. [3]
- Founds Election Integrity Network, incubated by CPI. [5]
- ProPublica publishes a detailed October investigation of her political and organizational work. [6]
- Public Interest Legal Foundation begins
PILF develops a voter-roll litigation and research model that it says includes a nationwide database of combined voter lists.
- Specialized infrastructure expands
CPI brings in Mark Meadows; Cleta Mitchell launches EIN; Russ Vought launches CRA; Stephen Miller co-founds AFL; American Moment launches a personnel pipeline.
Mark Meadows · Election Integrity Network · Russ Vought · Center for Renewing America · Stephen Miller · America First Legal · American Moment
- Election Integrity Network is founded
Cleta Mitchell launches EIN, incubated by CPI, to build a permanent state-based election-integrity volunteer network.
Election Integrity Network · Conservative Partnership Institute
- The CPI ecosystem expands
CPI brings in Mark Meadows; Cleta Mitchell launches Election Integrity Network; Russ Vought launches Center for Renewing America; Stephen Miller co-founds America First Legal; and American Moment begins building a personnel pipeline.
Mark Meadows · Election Integrity Network · Russ Vought · Center for Renewing America · Stephen Miller · America First Legal · American Moment · Conservative Partnership Institute
- Election Integrity Network is created under CPI
EIN's own materials say it was originally created by the Conservative Partnership Institute under Cleta Mitchell's leadership.
Election Integrity Network · Conservative Partnership Institute
- EIN transfers to the Virginia Institute for Public Policy
EIN's 2024 booklet says the network was transferred in its entirety to the Virginia Institute in January 2023; Mitchell remained active as founder.
Election Integrity Network · Virginia Institute for Public Policy
Documented connections
Open an entry to learn more. Each relationship below identifies exactly what its supporting record establishes.
- Conservative Partnership Institute
Senior legal fellow. [1]
- Election Integrity Network
Founder and chair. [2]
- Mark Meadows
Participated with Meadows in the Georgia call; committee reported his involvement in securing her assistance. [3][4]
View these connections on a map →
Additional archive relationship receipts
Cleta Mitchell → Public Interest Legal Foundation
CPI identifies Mitchell as a founder and chairman of PILF · 2010s–present
Evidence status: documented
Sources & original records
These links identify primary records, institutional accounts and independently reported findings. Source classifications describe the document's origin, not an automatic guarantee that its claims are true.
- CPI — Cleta Mitchell biographyOrganizational biography
- Election Integrity Network — LeadershipOrganizational biography
- January 2, 2021, Georgia call transcriptContemporaneous call transcript
- House January 6 committee — Final report, Chapter 2Congressional investigative report
- Election Integrity Network — About and historyOrganizational account
- ProPublica — Cleta Mitchell's election organizing (Oct. 28, 2026)Independent reporting
- Election Integrity Network — leadership
- FAIR 2025 Form 990
- FAIR 2025 Form 990 — officers, grants and payments
- CPI 2023 Form 990 — Schedule I
- CPI 2024 Form 990 — Schedule I
Evidence rule: Being linked to a person or organization does not establish criminal conduct, common command, financial control or shared intent. Claims of that kind require specific proof.