Former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty Tuesday in the Georgia election subversion case and will cooperate with Fulton County prosecutors – the third guilty plea in the past week.
At an unscheduled hearing in Atlanta, Ellis pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements, a felony stemming from the election lies that Ellis and other Donald Trump lawyers peddled to Georgia lawmakers in December 2020.
She was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.
Ellis delivered a tearful statement to the judge Tuesday while pleading guilty, disavowing her participation in Trump’s unprecedented attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Possibly. I think the last two pleas were only to misdemeanors. Not that the distinction is a defining factor, but it makes a difference as bars are more tolerant of lesser offenses; it’s really about the nature of the crime, two or three DUIs, no problem, embezzlement or forgery however is serious problem. The bar cannot abide lawyers with convictions for crimes of dishonesty, most especially crimes involving entrusted money or property, or as it were, crimes that involve submitting falsified documents to the state.
Government needs to be able to trust people. If lawyers are let to make a mockery of that trust, the social compact falls apart. You’d have to have an administrative trial everytime you need to renew your license or vote. It would be Kafkaesque.
These are serious offenses, seriously antisocial behavior, un-American.