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 will receive six years of probation, fork over a $6,000 fine, 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 the deal.
Fulton County prosecutors slapped Powell with seven counts Aug. 14 for her alleged efforts to undermine the 2020 Peach State election. They also accused her of scheming to unlawfully access voting equipment in deep-red Coffee County, Ga. in an attempt to find evidence of fraud.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Powell became one of Trump’s main legal allies of his bid to remain in power — infamously vowing to “release the Kraken” of purported fraud evidence.
She also partook in numerous meetings and strategy sessions with Trump allies while they hatched plans to overturn the election, including a mid-December 2020 White House gathering in which prosecutors have expressed interest.
Powell’s lawyer, Barry Coburn, declined to comment on the plea deal.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts in response to the Georgia indictment, which was handed up Aug. 14.
The 77-year-old former president is facing a grand total of 91 criminal counts spanning four criminal indictments, including the Georgia case.
The 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 back in early 2021
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 stae.