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Former Donald Trump attorney Jenna Ellis on Tuesday became the fourth person to take a plea deal in Georgia over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Ellis — who promoted Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud alongside an ”elite strike force team" of lawyers following the election — pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.
She is set to serve five years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution, and write an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia. She also must testify truthfully at co-defendants’ trial.
In a tearful statement to the court after pleading guilty, Ellis said she has “deep remorse” over her experience promoting the false election claims. “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” she said.
Ellis said she relied on other lawyers with more experience who said the election was stolen, and didn’t do her “due diligence” to check those claims. She did not mention any of the lawyers by name.
“What I did not do but, should have done, was to make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true,” she said. “I now take responsibility before this court and apologize to the people of Georgia.”
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Ellis was originally incited on one count of racketeering and one count of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
She appeared with fellow Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani at a legislative hearing in Georgia in December 2020 during which Giuliani amplified conspiracy theories about the election and said Republican lawmakers should take actions to reverse Joe Biden’s loss. She has since been a critic of Trump.
Former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty in the same case last week.
