Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings for her role in the effort to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.
Along with Trump and 17 other co-defendants, Ellis was charged by a grand jury in August in a case overseen by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Ellis has agreed to five years of probation along with 100 hours of community service and to pay $5,000 in restitution as part of her plea deal. She has also pledged to cooperate and testify truthfully in any other cases and will write a letter of apology to the people of Georgia. The agreement also prohibits Ellis from posting on social media about the case while proceedings against other defendants are pending.
Reading from prepared remarks, Ellis said she felt “deep remorse” for her actions.
“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Trump in these post-election challenges,” she said.
Ellis was facing one charge for violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering law and another for solicitation of violation of oath of public officer as laid out in August’s indictment.
Ellis is the latest defendant to flip in the case following guilty pleas by fellow ex-Trump attorneys Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and bail bondsman Scott Hall.
Steve Sadow, a lawyer for Trump, called out the prosecution’s decision to drop Ellis’ racketeering charge as part of her plea deal.
“What that shows is this so-called RICO case is nothing more than a bargaining chip” for Willis, Sadow said in a statement, referring to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations law. “Moreover, this plea was to a completely separate charge, not a part of the original indictment, which doesn’t even mention President Trump.”
Last month, Ellis, on her American Family Radio show, said while she personally has “great love and respect” for the former president, she “simply can’t support him for elected office again”, citing his “malignant, narcissistic tendency to simply say that he’s never done anything wrong”.