Sidney Powell Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Counts in Fulton County Plea Deal
Sidney Powell, the attorney who played a significant role in former President Donald Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, has pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts after reaching an agreement with prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia. Powell appeared in the Superior Court of Fulton County in Atlanta on Thursday, where the terms of the plea deal were laid out by a prosecutor. As part of the agreement, Powell has been sentenced to six years on probation, fined $6,000, and ordered to pay $2,700 in restitution to the state of Georgia.
The plea deal requires Powell to testify truthfully against any co-defendants in the case. Powell was among the conservative lawyers who promoted baseless claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, endorsing unfounded theories of foreign interference and ballot manipulation in an attempt to overturn the election results. In December 2020, she participated in a contentious meeting at the White House where White House lawyers confronted her and Rudy Giuliani about their election claims.
Powell, along with 18 others including Donald Trump, was charged by a grand jury in Fulton County in August. Initially facing seven charges, Powell pleaded not guilty. However, prosecutors dismissed the charges in the original indictment as part of the plea deal. The guilty plea comes just before Powell and another co-defendant, Kenneth Chesebro, were set to go on trial. Chesebro has pleaded not guilty, and jury selection for his trial will begin as scheduled.
Court documents revealed that Powell pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of election duties. These counts were related to a scheme in which Powell worked with a data company called SullivanStrickler to access election data from Coffee County, Georgia. The purpose of the conspiracy was to unlawfully access secure elections machines in Coffee County and tamper with electronic ballot markers and tabulating machines to remove voting data from election systems.
During the hearing, Powell acknowledged her understanding of the plea agreement’s terms and admitted to the facts presented by the prosecutor. In addition to the guilty plea, Powell is prohibited from communicating with co-defendants, witnesses, and the media until the case is closed against all defendants. She is required to hand over documents to prosecutors and write an apology letter to Georgia citizens as part of the deal.
Powell is the second defendant to plead guilty in this case, following bail bondsman Scott Hall. The other co-defendants, including Trump, have pleaded not guilty and deny any wrongdoing. The guilty plea from Sidney Powell could have implications for her involvement in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal case against Trump in Washington, D.C. Former federal prosecutor Scott Fredericksen stated that Powell’s plea may be a significant development in the investigations surrounding the 2020 election.
While Trump maintains his innocence and claims that the prosecutions against him are politically motivated, Powell’s potential cooperation with prosecutors could turn her into a critical witness in the federal case against Trump. The investigations into the aftermath of the 2020 election continue, with Powell’s guilty plea adding a new dimension to the legal proceedings.
Sources:
– “Sidney Powell, key figure in Trump’s effort to overturn election, pleads guilty to misdemeanor counts” – CBS News
– “Sidney Powell pleads guilty to six misdemeanors related to post-election fraud claims” – POLITICO