Disavowing Trump, a tearful Jenna Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia election probe
ATLANTA — Attorney Jenna Ellis on Tuesday became the fourth defendant in the
Fulton County election interference case to strike a deal with prosecutors.
In exchange for her cooperation, Ellis pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony. Speaking to the judge in a Fulton courtroom Tuesday, Ellis tearfully said she no longer believed the claims of election fraud she spread following the 2020 election when she acted as a legal adviser and media surrogate for Trump..
“I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse,” she said.
The count Ellis pled to stemmed from her testimony before a Georgia Senate subcommittee in late 2020. Along with co-defendants Rudy Giuliani and Ray Smith, Ellis “knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully” made false statements about election fraud in Georgia, according to her new charging document.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ellis must serve five years probation, perform 100 hours of community service and pay $5,000 in restitution to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. She agreed to testify truthfully when called, provide documents and other evidence, refrain from posting about the case on social media and to pen an apology letter to Georgia voters.
Ellis’ plea deal came less than a week after two of the case’s other defendants, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, struck similar agreements with Fulton prosecutors just hours before jury selection for their speedy trial was set to begin. Fifteen defendants remain, including former President Donald Trump, ex-white House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Giuliani.
The plea agreement cites numerous false statements Ellis, Giuliani and Smith made during a Dec. 3, 2020, legislative hearing in Atlanta, during which the group pushed for lawmakers to appoint a slate of pro-trump presidential electors, even though Democrat Joe Biden had won the state.
Among other things, the trio claimed at least 96,000 fraudulent absentee ballots were cast in the election, 2,506 felons voted, 66,248 underage voters cast ballots and 10,315 dead people voted. None of those claims were true — and Ellis acknowledged as much as part of her plea agreement.