October 24, 2023

Former Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Joins Guilty Plea Parade in Georgia

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump.”

Mother Jones; Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer for Donald Trump’s campaign, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the sprawling Georgia criminal prosecution surrounding Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Ellis is now the fourth defendant—and third attorney—to plead guilty in the case and agree to testify.

Ellis appeared in court in Fulton County, Georgia, on Tuesday and accepted responsibility for a single felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. Ellis will avoid prison time but will have to serve five years of probation. She agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and to testify in future proceedings related to Trump’s election subversion schemes. Ellis also agreed to pay $5,000 in restitution and submitted a letter of apology to Georgia citizens. 

Her deal follows plea agreements reached by three other defendants in the Georgia case, which Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis brought using a powerful state racketeering law. Bail bondsman Scott Hall, Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro—an attorney who helped formulate the fake electors scheme at the heart of the case—pleaded guilty and agreed to testify in upcoming trials, potentially against Trump. But Ellis’ deal includes a more extensive cooperation requirement. 

Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty to a felony in Fulton Country, Ga.

John Bazemore/AP

Powell and Chesebro pleaded guilty last week, just days before their trial was set to begin. But Ellis was among 16 other defendants, including Trump and his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who were not expected to go to trial until next year. That’s a possible indication that defendants in the case feel pressure to cut deals before others do—and before they are further swamped by legal costs. 

Ellis worked closely with Giuliani to advance false election fraud claims following Joe Biden’s victory. She traveled with the former New York mayor to various battleground states won by Biden, urging state lawmakers there to attempt to overturn the election results. In a statement she read in court Tuesday, Ellis said she had erred by relying “on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than I, to provide me with true and reliable information.” Ellis also acknowledged in her plea that she had aided and abetted Giuliani in making false claims. That’s the latest legal blow for Giuliani, who appears to be broke and unable to pay lawyers amid a slew other legal problems. Giuliani, like Trump, faces 13 felony charges in Georgia. Both have pleaded not guilty.

In her statement Tuesday, Ellis also tearfully admitted that her claims about a stolen election were false.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” Ellis said. “I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.”

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate