Former President Donald Trump has spoken out about his ex-attorney Sidney Powell’s guilty plea in the Georgia election interference case. Powell, one of 18 people indicted alongside Trump, pleaded guilty to six misdemeanour counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties. As part of a plea deal, Powell agreed to hand over documents and testify against the other defendants in their trial, including Trump. Powell was also sentenced to six years’ probation and was made to pay a $6,000 fine and $2,700 in restitution to Georgia.
Trump maintained his innocence in the case and pleaded not guilty. Trump took aim at news reports and praised Powell for representing Michael Flynn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and onetime national security adviser to Trump. He stated that Powell was never his attorney and that she would have been conflicted. Since both Powell and Chesebro pleaded guilty, many legal experts have pointed out what this could mean for Trump as the case against him continues.
Attorney Neal Katyal explained that with these no jail deals, Trump is on the receiving end of “incredibly bad news,” as these were his handpicked lawyers who have now seemingly been flipped and will testify against him. Former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi previously told Newsweek that the plea deal marks “another bad day” for the former president, as the two attorneys who have pleaded guilty could be very powerful witnesses against Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the others charged.
