- Jenna Ellis, the right-wing attorney who worked on the Trump 2020 campaign, pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the Georgia election interference case.
- Ellis joins Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro as the latest co-defendants of former President Donald Trump to take a plea deal.
- Ellis' plea agreement requires her to testify truthfully at any hearings or trials involving other co-defendants in the case, including Trump.
Jenna Ellis
Source: Fulton County Jail
Jenna Ellis, the right-wing lawyer who worked on Trump's 2020 presidential campaign, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a criminal charge in the Georgia election interference case.
Ellis joins Sidney Powell and two others as the latest co-defendants of former President Donald Trump to strike a deal with prosecutors.
The numerous recent settlements in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' extortion case signal a growing threat to Trump, who is fighting criminal charges in four separate cases as he runs for president in 2024.
Ellis, 38, pleaded guilty in Fulton County Superior Court to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. The charges related to false claims of election fraud made to members of the Georgia Senate at a hearing in early December 2020.
In a tearful statement before Judge Scott McAfee, Ellis expressed regret for her actions following Trump's loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings at the Fulton County Courthouse on October 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.
John Bazemore | Pool | Getty Images
“As an attorney who is also a Christian, I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously and strive to be a person of sound moral and ethical character in all my dealings,” Ellis said.
“I believed that challenging the results on behalf of President Trump should be done fairly and legally,” she said, but “I failed to do my due diligence.”
Instead, she relied on information provided to her by other lawyers “with many years of experience.”
“If I had known then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” she said.
“I look back on this whole experience with deep regret.”
Ellis was originally charged with two felonies in Willis' indictment, which accuses Trump and 18 co-defendants of illegally conspiring to overturn Biden's 2020 election victory in Georgia.
The 98-page, 41-count indictment alleges that Ellis asked state lawmakers in key swing states that Biden won to appoint presidential electors who would vote for Trump.
Ellis will avoid prison time as part of her plea agreement. She was sentenced to five years probation and must pay $5,000 in restitution. She must also complete 100 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the people of Georgia.
She must also testify truthfully at any hearings or trials involving other co-defendants in the case, including Trump.
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The three others who have already pleaded guilty – Powell, former Trump campaign lawyer Kenneth Chesebro and bail bondsman Scott Hall – also agreed to give truthful statements in their co-defendants' cases.
A lawyer representing Trump in the Georgia case did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Ellis' amended plea.
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