Release the Kraken! Sidney Powell Just Pleaded Guilty in Georgia Election Trial and Agreed to Testify.

Sidney Powell’s plea deal is bad for Rudy Giuliani.Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.Sidney Powell, the former Donald Trump attorney who is charged along with the former president and 17 others in an election subversion case in Georgia, pleaded guilty Thursday to six misdemeanor charges and agreed to testify about the alleged scheme in upcoming proceedings.
Powell and attorney Kenneth Chesebro were set to go on trial in the case tomorrow. In a statement, Powell admitted that she broke the law for her role in a January 2021 breach of election systems in Coffee County, Georgia. She was accused of conspiring with a group of Trump supporters who illegally accessed and copied voting information in a failed attempt to find evidence of election fraud.
Powell will receive 12 months of probation for each count; agreed to pay a $6,000 fine and $2,700 in restitution; and will “write a letter of apology to the citizens and state of Georgia,” according to the agreement read in court.
Her deal is a blow to Trump, who faces 13 criminal counts in the case, which links a series of charges for election subversion efforts by his backers under a Georgia racketeering law. While it is not clear exactly what Powell knows about Trump’s alleged crimes, her position on his legal team means she can likely help strengthen prosecutors’ sprawling case. (Powell is also one of six unindicted co-conspirators in the federal election subversion case brought against Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith. It’s not immediately clear if her cooperation in Georgia will help federal prosecutors.)
Powell is the second defendant to have pleaded guilty in the case, following a similar deal struck by bail bondsman Scott Hall. Her agreement will likely add pressure on other defendants to cut deals with prosecutors.
Powell’s plea looks particularly bad for Rudy Giuliani, the former Trump lawyer who she worked with in late 2020 to advance bogus election fraud claims. Giuliani, who appears to be broke and unable to pay legal fees, also faces 13 counts in the Georgia case.