Kathianne
10-26-2023, 03:17 AM
What is amazing though is how these people followed the off the wall ideas down the rabbit hole(s) and are now vilified as disloyal for trying to stay out of jail after doing all the dirty work. Claiming you believe in something while breaking the law isn't exactly convincing:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trumpian-tragedy-of-jenna-ellis-ceb80403?st=q7uolufym2lim9x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
OPINIONREVIEW & OUTLOOK
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The Trumpian Tragedy of Jenna Ellis
Trump’s stolen election claims keep hurting everyone but himself.
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The Editorial Board
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Oct. 24, 2023 6:16 pm ET
Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings, inside Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee's Fulton County Courtroom at the Fulton County Courthouse on Tuesday. PHOTO: POOL/GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump is still pretending that the 2020 presidential election “was RIGGED & STOLLEN,” as he put it the other day on Truth Social, where he also teased an imminent unveiling of “massive information and 100% evidence.” Meantime, in the real world, three lawyers who assisted with Mr. Trump’s schemes to reverse his 2020 defeat have pleaded guilty to crimes in Georgia.
The latest is Jenna Ellis, who on Tuesday tearfully read a statement to the court, acknowledging she had pushed specious claims, including to state lawmakers, without due diligence. “What I did not do but should have done, your honor, was to make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true,” she said. “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these postelection challenges.”
Ms. Ellis pleaded guilty to the felony of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. She will get five years of probation, plus restitution and community service. Kenneth Chesebro received a similar sentence for one count of conspiracy to file false documents. Sidney Powell will avoid jail as well, after pleading guilty to misdemeanors. They agreed to cooperate in the broader case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, which could mean testifying against Mr. Trump.
The press is playing up the legal significance of the plea deals, as if Ms. Ellis can now release the Kraken on Mr. Trump, to steal Ms. Powell’s indelible 2020 catchphrase. But it’s difficult to know how much dirt these attorneys really have on the former President, and some of his potential defenses are legal, not factual.
Ms. Willis’s indictment leans on Georgia’s expansive Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, treating Mr. Trump’s election maneuvers like a mafia operation. Yet Ms. Willis has let these lawyers cop to minor charges without racketeering, which the legal commentator Andrew McCarthy sees as evidence of an underlying weakness in her case. Mr. Trump in 2020 surrounded himself with kooky advisers, but do they qualify as an “enterprise” under the RICO statute?
Such questions aren’t idle, and to ask them isn’t to dismiss all of Ms. Willis’s case. The most straightforward sections of her indictment were the allegations that Ms. Powell, while hunting for phantom fraud, hired a contractor to tamper with election equipment in Coffee County. Ensuring the physical security of voting machines is a legitimate state interest, and it’s toxic to voter confidence for one side to be fiddling with the equipment.
But Mr. Trump wasn’t covered by those counts. Ms. Willis’s legal theories remain untested, and if she overcharged her case, it could redound to Mr. Trump’s political benefit, which is what he most cares about.
The plea deals by his former loyalists underscore how Mr. Trump’s tantrum after the 2020 election harmed everyone who has been associated with it. That includes the country in more poisonous politics, the Republican Party in lost elections, media hosts in lost reputations, and the many former advisers who find themselves in the legal dock.
The tragedy of Ms. Ellis is that she followed Mr. Trump’s pied-piper claims and now finds her career ruined, while the man she believed in uses what she now admits are falsehoods to march again to the White House.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trumpian-tragedy-of-jenna-ellis-ceb80403?st=q7uolufym2lim9x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
OPINIONREVIEW & OUTLOOK
Follow
The Trumpian Tragedy of Jenna Ellis
Trump’s stolen election claims keep hurting everyone but himself.
By
The Editorial Board
Follow
Oct. 24, 2023 6:16 pm ET
Jenna Ellis reads a statement after pleading guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings, inside Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee's Fulton County Courtroom at the Fulton County Courthouse on Tuesday. PHOTO: POOL/GETTY IMAGES
Donald Trump is still pretending that the 2020 presidential election “was RIGGED & STOLLEN,” as he put it the other day on Truth Social, where he also teased an imminent unveiling of “massive information and 100% evidence.” Meantime, in the real world, three lawyers who assisted with Mr. Trump’s schemes to reverse his 2020 defeat have pleaded guilty to crimes in Georgia.
The latest is Jenna Ellis, who on Tuesday tearfully read a statement to the court, acknowledging she had pushed specious claims, including to state lawmakers, without due diligence. “What I did not do but should have done, your honor, was to make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true,” she said. “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these postelection challenges.”
Ms. Ellis pleaded guilty to the felony of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. She will get five years of probation, plus restitution and community service. Kenneth Chesebro received a similar sentence for one count of conspiracy to file false documents. Sidney Powell will avoid jail as well, after pleading guilty to misdemeanors. They agreed to cooperate in the broader case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, which could mean testifying against Mr. Trump.
The press is playing up the legal significance of the plea deals, as if Ms. Ellis can now release the Kraken on Mr. Trump, to steal Ms. Powell’s indelible 2020 catchphrase. But it’s difficult to know how much dirt these attorneys really have on the former President, and some of his potential defenses are legal, not factual.
Ms. Willis’s indictment leans on Georgia’s expansive Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, treating Mr. Trump’s election maneuvers like a mafia operation. Yet Ms. Willis has let these lawyers cop to minor charges without racketeering, which the legal commentator Andrew McCarthy sees as evidence of an underlying weakness in her case. Mr. Trump in 2020 surrounded himself with kooky advisers, but do they qualify as an “enterprise” under the RICO statute?
Such questions aren’t idle, and to ask them isn’t to dismiss all of Ms. Willis’s case. The most straightforward sections of her indictment were the allegations that Ms. Powell, while hunting for phantom fraud, hired a contractor to tamper with election equipment in Coffee County. Ensuring the physical security of voting machines is a legitimate state interest, and it’s toxic to voter confidence for one side to be fiddling with the equipment.
But Mr. Trump wasn’t covered by those counts. Ms. Willis’s legal theories remain untested, and if she overcharged her case, it could redound to Mr. Trump’s political benefit, which is what he most cares about.
The plea deals by his former loyalists underscore how Mr. Trump’s tantrum after the 2020 election harmed everyone who has been associated with it. That includes the country in more poisonous politics, the Republican Party in lost elections, media hosts in lost reputations, and the many former advisers who find themselves in the legal dock.
The tragedy of Ms. Ellis is that she followed Mr. Trump’s pied-piper claims and now finds her career ruined, while the man she believed in uses what she now admits are falsehoods to march again to the White House.