Who Are Lawyers Jonathan Mitchell And Jason Murray In The Trump V. Colorado Case?

As the 2024 presidential election draws nearer, certain candidates are feeling the pressure of the race catch up to them. Former president Donald Trump is specifically experiencing the heat. Amid multiple lawsuits (including one defamation case led by E. Jean Carroll), certain states are working to remove Trump's name from their primary ballot while voters turn out to choose their presidential candidates. The state of Maine decided in December 2023 to remove Trump's name from their primary ballot, citing the fact that Trump had violated the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrection.

A few weeks before Maine's decision, Colorado had also ruled that Trump was not going to be included on their primary ballot due to his involvement in the January 6 insurrection, but Trump appealed the decision soon after the news broke. The case moved to the Supreme Court in February 2024, as both sides of the issue are to be argued. Jonathan Mitchell, former Texas solicitor general, represented Trump, while Jason Murray argued on behalf of the state of Colorado. But with such a landmark case in the hands of two lawyers, citizens are curious as to who exactly these men at the helm of the issue are and what they stand for.

The first lawyer in the Trump v. Colorado case is Jonathan Mitchell, the attorney who is representing Trump's side in the issue. Mitchell is a well-known conservative voice in the world of politics, as one of the many right-leaning politicians who pushed for abortion to be outlawed in the United States. Before his legal career took off, Mitchell graduated from the University of Chicago's law school, then went on to work for federal appeals judge J. Michael Luttig as well as the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Mitchell was appointed Texas solicitor general in 2010 and stayed in the job for five years; he later started his own law firm in 2018. Mitchell is perhaps most well-known for his role in the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade; he first drafted the legislation that banned abortion in Texas, which led to more and more states following suit, and eventually reversing Roe in June 2022. Mitchell even received an award from the National Association of Christian Lawmakers for his part in creating the pro-life legislation.

The second lawyer in the Trump v. Colorado case is Jason Murray, who is representing six Colorado voters who assert that Trump's name should be removed from the primary ballot in their state. Murray is a 2011 graduate of Harvard Law School, after which he worked for both Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Elena Kagan.

Murray worked in private practice for 10 years before turning his focus to representing the public interest. While Murray clerked for Justices Gorsuch and Kagan, that didn't stop Gorsuch from grilling his former employee during the Trump v. Colorado case. Despite the less-than-ideal treatment from Gorsuch during his argument, Murray has nothing but nice things to say about him. "Gorsuch will make an exceptional Supreme Court Justice," he told The Washington Post (via Times Now News) when Gorsuch was nominated in 2017. "He possesses a rare combination of intelligence, humility, and integrity, not to mention a fierce commitment to the rule of law."