Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis becomes the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the election fraud lawsuit, joining defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall, who pleaded guilty earlier this week. The Colorado native admitted to aiding and abetting false statements and writings—a felony in the United States. This does not look good for Mr. Trump, especially as he continues to run for president in the 2024 election.
Ellis faces five years of probation, a $5,000 restitution fine, and 100 hours of community service, but more significantly, agreed to fully cooperate with prosecutors as they go to court against the 14 other individuals facing charges surrounding the alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia—including former president Donald Trump. Keep reading to find out what this means for Trump’s presidential campaign.
Jenna Ellis pleads guilty and apologizes to the citizens of Georgia
This past Tuesday, Ellis pleaded guilty to amplifying baseless claims of election fraud in order to keep former president Trump in power. This comes after admitting in March of this year that she knowingly misrepresented the facts in several public claims that widespread voting fraud had occurred and led to Trump's defeat.
In an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, which she read aloud in court, she stated that she wanted to challenge the results of the 2020 election on behalf of Trump "in a just and legal way." Ellis claims she relied on information from other lawyers to do so, and failed to do her "due diligence" and check the validity of that information.
"If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges," she said tearfully in court. "I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse. [...] I now take responsibility before this court and apologize to the people of Georgia."
Jenna Ellis joins Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall in testifying against remaining 14 defendants, including former president Donald Trump
Kenneth Chesebro, an American attorney, pleaded guilty on Oct. 20th in a criminal racketeering indictment that also named Donald Trump, and was sentenced to five years of probation.
Joining him is former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, known widely for spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election results. She often appeared on Fox News to say that Dominion Voting Systems had software that could "set and run an algorithm that probably ran all over the country to take a certain percentage of votes from President Trump and flip them to President Biden,"—a very dangerous claim to make. On Oct 22nd, she was sentenced to six years of probation, fined $6,000, ordered to pay $2,600 in restitution, is required to turn over documents related to the case, and will be testifying against the remaining defendants.
The final co-defendant of Donald Trump, bail bondsman Scott Hall, pleaded guilty on Sept 29th. to conspiring to unlawfully access voter data and ballot counting machines. He also received five years of probation after helping to carry out a breach of voting equipment and data.
What does this mean for presidential candidate Donald Trump?
The former president is no stranger to lawsuits like this as he has been in and out of courtrooms since his time in office. Now, as his former lawyers plead guilty in the election fraud case he is also indicted in, citizens are wondering what this means for his presidential campaign.
Can Donald Trump run for president if he's convicted of this felony? The short answer is yes. The chances of him being convicted are a lot higher with four of his former colleagues already pleading guilty, but based on his strength in the polls as of now, it doesn't seem like a felony conviction would stop his supporters from casting their vote for him.
Donald Trump has yet to comment on the four defendants' guilty pleas, but we have to assume he's at least a little freaked out!
