Jenna Ellis, Former Trump Lawyer, Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Case

 Three lawyers who, along with Donald Trump, are accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election  will now work with prosecutors in this racketeering case.

Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump lawyer who amplified former President Donald J. Trump's baseless claims of election fraud as part of what she called a legal "elite task force," pleaded guilty  Tuesday as part of an agreement with the Georgia prosecutors guilty. Speaking to a judge in an Atlanta courtroom, she tearfully expressed regret for participating in the effort to keep  Trump in power after his 2020 election defeat.Ellis, 38, pleaded guilty to  aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony. He is the fourth defendant to plead guilty in the Georgia case. It accuses Trump and 18 others of plotting to swing the 2020 presidential election in Trump's favor. 

 MrEllis agreed to be sentenced to five years  probation, pay $5,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service. He has already written a letter of apology  to Georgian citizens  and  agreed to cooperate fully with the prosecutor's office in developing the case. Last week, 

 prosecutors reached plea deals  with Kenneth Chesebro,  the mastermind behind efforts to plant fake Trump voters in Georgia and other swing states, and Sidney Powell, an outspoken member of Trump's post-election legal team.

Late last month, Scott Hall, a bail bondsman who was accused along with Ms. Powell of participating in a breach of voting equipment and data at a rural election office in Georgia County, pleaded guilty in the case. 

 Fani T. Willis, a prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, secured an indictment in August against 19 defendants  on racketeering and other charges, accusing them of participating in a criminal enterprise that conspired to interfere with the 2020 presidential election. In Georgia.

 Ms. Ellis, unlike the other defendants who  pleaded guilty, asked the court to allow her to testify. As he rose from the defense table, he cried and said: “As a lawyer who is also a Christian, I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously. “If I had known then what I know now, I would have refused to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” Ms. Ellis told  Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.“I look back on this experience with deep regret. "Your Honor, I have already accepted responsibility for my failures  before the Colorado Bar Association, which convicted me, and now I accept responsibility before this court and apologize to the people of Georgia." 

 He said that After Trump's defeat in 2020, he was convinced that challenges to the election results on his behalf should be conducted "fairly and legally." However, he said he relied on information from other lawyers,  some of whom had "much more  experience than me," and did not exercise "due care" in verifying the veracity of their claims.

In March, Ms. Ellis admitted in an affidavit filed in Colorado, her home state, that she  knowingly misrepresented the facts in several public claims that there was widespread voter fraud that led to Trump's defeat. This statement was part of an agreement reached by Ms. Ellis  to accept a public reprimand and settlement of disciplinary action taken against her by  officials of the Colorado State Bar Association.

 Although he is still licensed to practice law in Colorado, at least one more complaint regarding his professional conduct is expected. 

 "We plan to file a new complaint in Colorado based on the guilty plea so that an attorney can evaluate the case in light of his criminal conduct," said Michael Teter, executive director of the 65 Project, a nonpartisan legal  group. 

 Ms. Ellis' new doubts about  Trump and his refusal to accept  election defeat were already evident before her call on Tuesday.Last month on his Christian  radio show, he called  Trump a "friend" and added: "I personally have great love and respect for him." However, she said on the show that she could no longer support him politically  because he was a "vicious "I have a narcissistic tendency to simply say he's never done anything wrong."