Former President Donald Trump will benefit from the plea deal Sidney Powell accepted from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, according to Georgia lawyer Steve Sadow, who said Powell’s requirement to truthfully testify in upcoming trials related to the 2020 election in Georgia will help Trump.
Sadow said in a statement to The Messenger that Powell’s testimony, which is required as part of her plea deal, “will be favorable” to his defense strategy, “[a]ssuming truthful testimony in the Fulton County case.”
As part of the plea deal, all of the felony indictments against Powell were dropped, and she pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts related to election interference. In addition to testifying in future cases, Powell is required to serve six years of probation, plus pay a $6,000 fine, and another $2,700 in restitution to the state, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which added that Powell also wrote “a letter of apology to the citizens of Georgia.”
Powell was originally charged for her role in an alleged conspiracy to illegally obtain election equipment from Coffee County, Georgia, but her lawyers previously argued the data they copied does not constitute theft, and that they had permission to retrieve the data.
The new indictment against Powell focuses on her contract with SullivanStriker LLC, a Georgia company, which retrieved data from election equipment in Coffee County for the purpose of evaluating it for evidence of fraud. In her guilty plea, Powell acknowledged she will have no communication with co-defendants, witnesses, or media until all cases related to the 2020 election in Georgia have been closed.
Molly McCann Sanders, an attorney who worked alongside Powell in defense of Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, insisted she has not “flipped” against the former president. “The fact that Fani Willis dropped all 7 felonies tells the tale,” she wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, before asserting Willis “had no case,” but “did have the coercive power of the state.”
Sidney Powell is absolutely innocent. The fact that Fani Willis dropped all 7 felonies tells the tale. She had no case, but she did have the coercive power of the state.
Criminal prosecution is crushing, and it has become clear that juries are no longer the protection to unjust… pic.twitter.com/98sP307xA7
— Molly McCann Sanders (@molmccann) October 19, 2023
Jury selection for Powell’s trial, which was joined with pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro after they both invoked their right to a speedy trial, was set to commence Friday. He originally sought for his case to be separated from the joint case with Powell.
Chesebro was indicted for his role in an alleged conspiracy to pass off Electoral College electors aligned with Trump’s campaign as actual public officials, and ABC News reported Wednesday that he formally denied a plea offer from Willis’ office.
Powell is the second defendant indicted in the racketeering case against Trump to take a plea deal, following bail bondsman Scott Hall. Similarly to Powell’s plea agreement, Willis dropped seven felony charges against Hall, and he pleaded guilty to five misdemeanors. He was sentenced to five years of probation, a $5,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service. Hall, too, agreed to write a letter of apology to the people of Georgia.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
