By Aaron Miller-
Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer who was a part of Donald Trump’s legal team, has pled guilty to her involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Jenna Ellis(pictured) is the fourth of 19 co-defendants to plead guilty in a deal with Fulton County prosecutor
Ellis reached a plea deal with prosecutors in the case rather than proceeding to trial, admitting to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.
Ms. Ellis, 38, pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony. She is the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the Georgia case, which charged Mr. Trump and 18 others with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Mr. Trump’s favor.
Ms. Ellis agreed to be sentenced to five years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service. She has already written an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, and she agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors as the case progresses.
Her plea comes as another significant development in a string of legal cases against the former president and his associates.
Ellis was one of 18 individuals charged with violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering law in connection to their attempts to reverse the election results.
The case in Georgia is one of four criminal cases former President Trump is currently facing, with two specifically related to his alleged attempts to overturn his electoral defeat.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors recommended a sentence of five years of probation for Ellis. She is also required to pay a $5,000 restitution, perform 100 hours of community service, write an apology letter to the people of Georgia, and testify truthfully in trials connected to the case.
In an emotional statement following her guilty plea, Jenna Ellis, 38, acknowledged her reliance on more experienced lawyers during the 2020 election challenges and her failure to verify the accuracy of the information presented to her.
While serving on Trump’s legal team, Ellis made several public statements echoing false claims about the 2020 election results. In a November 2020 interview, she stated, “With all those states [Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia] combined, we know that the election was stolen from President Trump, and we can prove that.”
Jenna Ellis is not the first member of Trump’s legal team to plead guilty in the Georgia case. Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall, a pollster, have also entered into plea agreements. Their actions underscore the ongoing legal challenges the former president and his associates face in multiple jurisdictions.
Donald Trump, who remains the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, continues to propagate unfounded claims about election fraud, despite multiple court rulings and audits that found no evidence of widespread malpractice.
During a recent visit to New Hampshire to register for its presidential primary, Trump compared himself to Nelson Mandela, characterizing his legal battles as a struggle against “fascists” and “lunatics” whom he believes are “destroying our country.”
As the legal battles unfold, the public and political observers are closely watching the outcomes and their potential impact on the 2024 presidential race.
Jenna Ellis’s guilty plea in the Georgia election case is the latest development in a series of legal challenges facing former President Donald Trump and his associates.
The continued legal proceedings shed light on the ongoing divisions surrounding the 2020 election and its potential influence on the upcoming 2024 presidential election.