
One day before her trial was scheduled to begin, former Donald Trump attorney Sidney Powell entered a guilty plea in the Georgia election subversion case.
Powell’s guilty plea includes an admission of her part in the Georgia election system hack that occurred in rural Coffee County in January 2021. In an effort to demonstrate that the election was rigged against Trump, a group of Trump supporters downloaded and copied data from the county’s electoral systems with the assistance of local GOP officials.
Prosecutors in Fulton County are urging a six-year probationary term. Powell will also be compelled to turn over papers, pay nearly $9,000 in restitution and fines, testify in future trials, and write an apology letter to Georgians.
Trump, a co-defendant in the Fulton County case, was not mentioned at the brief plea hearing on Thursday and is not included in Powell’s plea filings.
Following the 2020 election, Powell spread bogus statements about alleged fraud and the flipping of millions of ballots as part of a global plot against Trump that included Venezuela and other foreign countries.
She is now the second defendant to enter a guilty plea in the extensive racketeering case. Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, pled guilty last month and agreed to provide testimony during subsequent trials. Trump is one of the other 17 defendants who have entered a not-guilty plea.
The actions Powell admitted to taking after the 2020 election were “for the purpose of willfully tampering with electronic ballot markers and tabulating machines” and “with the intention of taking as well as appropriating information, data, & software, the property of Dominion Voting Systems Corporation,” according to new court documents.
Additionally, she has admitted to hiring a data forensics company and sending its staff to Coffee County so they could get unauthorized access to government computers for the purpose of “examining personal voter data, with the knowledge that this examination was without authority,” according to the court documents.
Prosecutors’ assertions that she masterminded the Coffee County breach had been roundly dismissed by her attorneys. They have asserted during pretrial proceedings that the evidence will “show that she was not the driving force behind” the incident and that the prosecutors are “incorrect.”
Elie Honig, a senior legal commentator for CNN, stated on “News Central” that “this is a really big breakthrough for the prosecutors.”
“And it’s crucial to realize there is no such thing as a half-hearted effort. According to Honig, a former federal prosecutor, “If you’re a prosecutor, you wouldn’t enter into this agreement with Sidney Powell unless you were absolutely certain that A, she is telling the truth, and B. she is going to be able to provide evidence for you credibly in a way that you can put before a jury, and justify and see she isn’t going to be splitting hairs.”
Misty Hampton, the elections administrator for Coffee County during the 2020 election season, is the only additional Georgia defendant to be specifically referenced in Thursday’s plea paperwork. If Hampton goes to trial, Powell, who has admitted to engaging in a criminal conspiracy with her, will be called as a witness against her. To seven felonies, Hampton has entered a not guilty plea.
Friday was trial day
Powell’s requests to have the case dismissed or at least reduce the severity of some of the most serious allegations, such as the alleged RICO violation, were repeatedly denied by Fulton County Judge McAfee.
In his most recent decision, Powell’s claims that the indictment violated her First Amendment rights were dismissed on Wednesday night.
The trial for Powell and co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro, which was scheduled to begin Friday with jury selection, has been significantly altered by the last-minute plea. They both requested a fast trial, which resulted in the case’s first courtroom showdown, but it now seems like Chesebro will proceed on his own.
Chesebro has entered a not guilty plea to seven offenses involving his participation in the fake-electors conspiracy.
Risk of litigation elsewhere
In addition to the Georgia case, Powell is currently dealing with legal issues.
The federal election subversion lawsuit that special counsel Jack Smith brought against Trump includes her as an unindicted co-conspirator. According to an earlier CNN report, the probe has been going on for some time and has continued to focus on Powell. In that instance, she is not facing any charges.
In addition, two voting technology companies have filed significant defamation lawsuits against Powell after she erroneously accused them of rigging the 2020 election in Trump’s favor. The lawsuits were brought by the businesses Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic in 2021, and they are currently in the discovery stage before trial.