Former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell pleaded guilty Thursday in exchange for a reduced sentence in the sprawling Georgia election tampering case, one day before the start of jury selection in her trial.
Under the deal, Powell admitted to six misdemeanors accusing her of conspiring to intentionally interfere with the performance of election duties.
In exchange, she received six years probation, was fined $6,000, ordered to pen an apology letter to the people of Georgia, and must deliver testimony in future trials in the case — including potentially against the 77-year-old 45th president.
Powell, 68, is the second of 19 defendants in the case to plead guilty after bail bondsman Scott Hall copped last month to five misdemeanor charges. Hall was hit with five years of probation and must also testify in future trials as part of his deal.
Brian Rafferty, attorney for Sidney Powell, hands Judge Scott McAfee plea documents as Powell attends a hearing on October 19, 2023 at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty ImagesFulton County prosecutors slapped Powell with seven counts Aug. 14 for her alleged efforts to undermine the 2020 election result in Georgia.
Prosecutors said that Powell conspired with Hall and others to access election equipment without authorization and hired computer forensics firm SullivanStrickler to send a team to Coffee County, in south Georgia, to copy software and data from voting machines and computers there.
The indictment says a person who is not named sent an email to a top SullivanStrickler executive and instructed him to send all data copied from Dominion Voting Systems equipment in Coffee County to an unidentified lawyer associated with Powell and the Trump campaign.
Sidney Powell became one of the public faces of the efforts to undermine the 2020 election. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Fani Willis has been helming a sprawling election racketing case against Donald Trump and a bevy of his allies. REUTERSAs part of the plea deal, Powell will have to pay $2,700 to cover the cost of replacing the equipment.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Powell became one of Trump’s main legal allies in his bid to remain in power — infamously vowing to “release the Kraken” of purported fraud evidence.
She also took part in numerous meetings and strategy sessions with Trump allies while they hatched plans to overturn the election, including a Dec. 18, 2020, White House gathering in which prosecutors have expressed interest.
Donald Trump grimaces into the camera for an unprecedented mugshot of a former US president. APPowell’s lawyer, Barry Coburn, declined to comment on the plea deal.
Critics have sought to disbar Powell for her conduct. In 2021, the State Bar of Texas’ Commission for Lawyer Discipline opened an investigation and sought disciplinary action against her.
However, in February of this year, a Texas judge tossed out that disciplinary case, sparing her from potential disbarment.
Sidney Powell will be forced to apologize to the citizens of Georgia for her behavior. APIn May Michigan’s Attorney Grievance Commission lodged an ethics complaint against Powell. That matter is ongoing.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts in the Georgia indictment, which was handed up Aug. 14.
The former president is facing a grand total of 91 criminal counts across four cases in Georgia, Manhattan, South Florida and Washington.
There are 19 co-defendants in the 2020 Georgia election tampering case. FULTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE/AFP via Getty ImagesThe trial of another co-defendant in the Fulton County indictment, lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, is set to begin Friday with jury selection.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began her sweeping probe more than two years ago.
Her inquiry was sparked, in part, by a Jan. 2, 2021, call Trump held with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he emphasized the need to “find, uh, 11,780 votes” to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the state.
With Post wires
