and has pushed for changes in the courtroom to comfort victims testifying in abuse cases. Mitchell made headlines in 2016 after allowing a golden retriever mix named Sam to assist children when they were testifying about traumatic episodes. Mitchell's name appears on a list of Arizona "lobbyist updates" for the week of March 26, 2018. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings (2018) In September 2018, Mitchell took a leave of absence from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in order to serve as Investigative Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, during the confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She participated in the September 27, 2018 hearings of Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, concerning Ford's allegations of sexual assault towards Kavanaugh. Mitchell was brought in by the Republican senators in the Committee, and questioned Ford and Kavanaugh. The Committee's Democratic senators questioned Ford and Kavanaugh themselves. During the coverage of the hearing, CBS News described Mitchell as "a career prosecutor with decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes". Following the hearing, she issued a memorandum concluding a reasonable prosecutor would not file charges based on the evidence before the committee. The memo was criticized for drawing conclusions based on too little evidence. On September 29, 2018 and October 6, 2018, Mitchell was portrayed by actress Aidy Bryant in the Saturday Night Live opening sketch, and referred to in the "Weekend Update" segment. Acting County Attorney In August 2019, Montgomery promoted Mitchell to Chief Deputy at the county attorney's office. Mitchell got the job after Montgomery's longtime chief deputy Mark Faull left on medical leave and his replacement Michael McVey was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with another county employee. After Montgomery resigned to take a seat on the state supreme court, Mitchell became acting county attorney until the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors selected an interim to fill out the remainder of Montgomery's term. Mitchell, along with Jon Eliason, Allister Adel, Rodney Glassman, John Kaites, Gina Godbehere, Chris DeRose, and Lacy Cooper, applied for the position. After the Board selected Adel for the County Attorney role, Ken Vick became chief deputy and Mitchell became the deputy chief for the criminal group. County Attorney Adel resigned in March 2022. The following month, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Mitchell as the interim county attorney. Mitchell was the Republican nominee in the 2022 special election