Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, whose guilty plea last week made her the fourth Georgia co-conspirator to reach a deal with prosecutors, delivered a powerful disavowal of the "Big Lie" that could undercut Trump's defense, vault her to star witness status and fashion her into a "potent weapon" against his political goals, two legal experts argued in a Sunday op-ed for The New York Times.
Ellis in a statement to the court admitted that the claims of election fraud she parroted as part of the alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election were false. While two other plea deals — from Trump-aligned lawyer Kenneth Chesebro and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell — are important, former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen and criminal defense lawyer Amy Copeland write, "Ellis is in a unique position to aid prosecutors in the Georgia case and possibly even the parallel federal one — as well as Mr. Trump’s opponents in the court of public opinion."
Ellis pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements made by her co-defendants, including personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, to the Georgia Senate about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Those statements included the claims that “10,315 or more dead people voted” in the state, “at least 96,000 mail-in ballots were counted” erroneously and “2,506 felons voted illegally.”
Those lies formed a significant part of Trump's moves against the election, according to state and federal criminal prosecutions that allege the former president and his co-conspirators knowingly employed these false claims and others in their plots to overturn his electoral defeat.
Ellis "emerged from her plea hearing as a likely star witness for prosecutors," starting with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who first secured her cooperation, Eisen and Copeland wrote.
Unlike the co-conspirators who also secured plea deals, Ellis described her "responsibilities as a lawyer," lamented the due diligence “I did not do but should have done” and expressed her “deep remorse for those failures of mine” during her statement before the court. The judge, a fierce ex-prosecutor, appreciated her sharing and noted that it's uncommon for defendants to do so. That exchange rings significant for Ellis' future role in the case and trial.
"Trials are about the evidence and the law," the experts write. "But they are also theater, and the jury is the audience. In this case, the jury is not the only audience — the Georgia trials will be televised, so many Americans will also be tuned in. Ms. Ellis is poised to be a potent weapon against Mr. Trump in the courtroom and on TVs.
"That is bad news for her former co-defendants — above all, Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump," they continue, noting that Ellis was most closely associated with the former New York City mayor. "If her court appearance last week is any indication, she will be a compelling guide to his alleged misconduct. She will also add to what is known about it."
The legal experts predicted that Ellis would have had many conversations with Giuliani that are not yet public and will inform the jury's decisions. Second, because Giuliani was the senior lawyer on the case, Ellis' comment that she was misguided by attorneys “with many more years of experience” is a direct dig at him.
Her testimony is likely to also strike Trump hard as she's effectively rebuffed his claims that he won the election — an argument that's an expected focal point of his trial defense. A "formerly outspoken MAGA champion," her disagreement with the claims can potentially resonate with jurors while building on other substantial evidence against Trump, which includes an array of witness testimony collected by the House Jan. 6 committee indicating that many an advisor informed the former president the election was not stolen and that he may have admitted as much in private.
Ellis' testimony also has the potential to undermine one of Trump's main defenses: that he relied on the advice of counsel, a defense only available if said counsel is not part of the alleged crimes, Copeland and Eisen note.
"Ms. Ellis’s plea puts her squarely within the conspiracy, as do those of Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell," they said. "That will hamper Mr. Trump’s effort to present a reliance-on-counsel defense."
Ellis, notably, is also promising Willis full cooperation, taking the step to agree "to fully cooperate with prosecutors,” which could involve doing interviews with prosecutors, “appearing for evidentiary hearings, and assisting in pretrial matters.” Chesebro and Powell, on the other hand, while likely having important contributions to the prosecution, have only agreed to provide documents, preview their testimony and testify truthfully in further proceedings if called.
"To our knowledge, Ms. Ellis is not yet cooperating with prosecutors in the federal case led by the special counsel Jack Smith, but if she does, she would have a comparative advantage for the prosecution over Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell: They are identified as unindicted co-conspirators in that case and would be more problematic for Mr. Smith to deal with," the experts add, noting that Smith may not be willing to immunize them if they were to assert their privilege against self-incrimination since that would butt up against prosecuting them.
Ellis, however, may be a more suitable candidate for Smith to extend that protection to — as he did with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — to secure her testimony because he has not named her among Trump's alleged federal co-conspirators.
Live-streamed then replayed on television and social media, Ellis' guilty plea is also bound to have an effect on the political landscape, Copeland and Eisen predict. "It is riveting to see a MAGA champion who helped lead the election assault tearfully admitting she and that effort misled the American people," they said.
Even if Trump finds a way to delay his Georgia court appearance within the five months the judge had set aside for Chesebro and Powell's trial, the other defendants' trial could begin within that time and definitely in election year 2024. In that case, Ellis and other existing and potential witnesses against the former president will likely play a crucial role in both the legal landscape and the political arena.
"With Mr. Trump showing no signs of backing down from his claims of 2020 election fraud and a new election upon us, Ms. Ellis’s plea — like the televised Jan. 6 committee testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, another Trump insider who turned on him with powerful effect — could be a potential turning point in the court of public opinion," Eisen and Copeland conclude. "When Mr. Trump’s lies are repeated in the future, in whatever venue, expect to see Ms. Ellis often."
