MAGA Lawyer Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty, Flips on Georgia Co-Defendants

Nikki McCann Ramirez
·2 min read
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Sidney Powell has agreed to a plea deal with Fulton County, Georgia, prosecutors over charges brought against her in a sprawling RICO case in which former President Donald Trump and 17 others have also been charged for allegedly meddling in the state’s 2020 election results.

The plea deal comes just one day before Powell’s trial, which she had requested take place separately from that of the other defendants. The deal reduced Powell’s charges and carried a sentence of six years probation, payment of $2,700 in fines, an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia, and a requirement to testify truthfully against other defendants in the case. This means Powell could wind up testifying against Trump.

Powell is the second Trump co-defendant to enter a guilty plea. Scott Hall, a bail bondsman accused of participating in a breach of voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, accepted a plea deal in September.

In August, Powell, Trump, and 17 others were charged with violating Georgia’s racketeering laws and attempting to meddle with the 2020 election results in the state. Powell was accused of aiding Trump in spreading conspiracy theories about the election and participating in efforts to tamper with voting machines. She initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.

Powell’s involvement in the former president’s efforts to meddle with election results extends far beyond Georgia. The attorney was reportedly present at a December 2020 meeting in the Oval Office during which the Trump administration’s legal advisers sparred with the crackpot team of election conspiracy theorists he assembled to challenge the election. Powell, along with Rudy Giuliani and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, pushed a plan to seize voting machines in various states over the objections of former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and others.

A plea deal doesn’t necessarily mean Powell is out of legal jeopardy. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, sources close to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation of Trump’s election meddling have zeroed in on Powell. Several witnesses have been grilled on her involvement in post-election scheming, her contact with lawmakers, and her claims about Dominion Voting Systems.

Charges are not off the table. As one source put it: “Sidney’s fucked.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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