Former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge related to her role in the former president’s alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Ellis, now the fourth of 19 defendants to admit involvement in Trump’s alleged scheme, entered her guilty plea in the case on Tuesday after Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro did the same last week. Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, was the first to plead guilty last month.
Ellis admitted to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings in Georgia. The charge resulted from her appearance before a state senate subcommittee on December 3, 2020, when she claimed to have evidence of voter fraud while testifying alongside Rudy Giuliani and Ray Smith.
The former Trump campaign lawyer agreed to a sentence of five years probation, a $5,000 restitution to the Georgia secretary of state’s office, 100 hours of community service, and an apology letter to the state of Georgia. As part of the agreement, she can be called to testify in future trials related to the case in Fulton County, Ga., and is barred from posting about it on social media while the trial is in motion.
The remaining defendants, including Trump, have so far pleaded not guilty after getting hit with the indictment filed by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis in August.
Ellis noticeably cried while reading her statement to Superior Court judge Scott McAfee on Tuesday morning.
Jenna Ellis: “I failed to do my due diligence. I believe in and I value election integrity. If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post election challenges. I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.” pic.twitter.com/6Zf0SZ5X22
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) October 24, 2023
“As an attorney who is also a Christian, I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously and I endeavor to be a person of sound moral and ethical character in all of my dealings,” Ellis said.
“I failed to do my due diligence,” she added, referring to her failed efforts to challenge the validity of Trump and his team’s stolen-election claims. “I believe in and I value election integrity. If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges. I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.”