'Jaw-dropping testimony': Legal expert details 3 big takeaways from Sidney Powell’s bombshell guilty plea
Thursday, October 19 saw a major bombshell in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' sweeping election interference case against former President Donald Trump. In an Atlanta courtroom, Sidney Powell — a former Trump lawyer and one of the many co-defendants — entered a guilty plea.
Powell, CNN reported, will avoid prison and be given a six-year probation sentence. In return, she must fully cooperate with Willis' office.
Legal expert Kimberly Wehle, a former federal prosecutor who is now a law professor at the University of Baltimore, offers three major takeaways in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on October 19.
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Wehle's takeaways are: (1) "Two of 19 defendants have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors," (2) "Don’t be surprised if (bail bondsman Scott) Hall and Powell produce some jaw-dropping testimony," and (3) "Assuming (Kenneth) Cheseboro's trial goes forward, it will reveal a lot about the strength of the case against Trump."
"Whether Powell's and Hall's testimony will hurt Trump's defense remains to be seen," Wehle explains. "Powell's counsel claims that she 'did not represent President Trump or the Trump campaign' following the election, although Rudy Giuliani introduced her as one of 'the senior lawyers' representing Trump during his 2020 campaign. Having participated in a news conference shortly after the election at the White House, at a minimum Powell can testify as to conversations she had with Trump that could reveal what he knew about the true election results and what he intended to have happen in the lead-up to the January 6th insurrection."
Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results are the focus of two separate criminal prosecutions: Willis' for the State of Georgia and special counsel Jack Smith's federal case for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Unlike Smith, Willis is using RICO laws to prosecute Trump.
Wehle notes, "Powell's testimony could be important to special counsel Jack Smith, too, as she's believed to be one of the unindicated co-conspirators in the federal January 6th case. According to testimony obtained by the House January 6th Committee, Trump privately described her as 'crazy.'"
READ MORE: 'Trump should be very concerned': Legal experts react to Sidney Powell’s bombshell guilty plea
Read Kimberly Wehle's full article for The Bulwark at this link.
