Trump lawyer and professing Christian, Jenna Ellis, teared up today while pleading guilty to illegally conspiring to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
“As an attorney who is also a Christian, I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously,” a tearful Ellis said. “And I endeavor to be a person of sound moral and ethical character in all of my dealings.”
Accepting a plea deal with the Fulton County district attorney’s office, Ellis pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. The statements concerned Ellis telling lawmakers in Georgia that fake votes were counted in the 2020 presidential election.
She also agreed to provide evidence potentially implicating other defendants in the sweeping criminal racketeering case and to testify in any future trials.
In exchange, Ellis avoided jail time and agreed to complete three to five years’ probation and 100 hours of community service, to pay $5,000 in restitution, and to write an apology letter.
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In her statement today, Ellis appeared to implicate Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, another defendant in the case, who faces 13 charges in the racketeering case.
While trying to represent Trump “to the best of my ability,” Ellis claimed she “relied on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than I, to provide me with true and reliable information.”
Ellis admitted that she failed to do her “due diligence” and “to make sure that the facts . . . were in fact true.” She added, “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges.”
Ellis is the fourth defendant and third Trump attorney in the case to plead guilty. The others include Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall and former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro.
Today marks the second time Ellis has admitted to wrongdoing while promoting claims of election fraud. In March, Ellis confessed to operating from a “selfish motive” while making “misrepresentations” with “a reckless state of mind.” Her admissions came as she was censured by a Colorado judge for a “pattern of misconduct” and fined $244.
In August, after being indicted by a Fulton County grand jury for racketeering, Ellis claimed she was being “persecuted” and posted a smiling mugshot on X/Twitter.
“But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you…” Matt 5:44
“But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you… pic.twitter.com/lGcxDN0skI— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) August 23, 2023
She also began raising money on GiveSendGo for her legal defense, amassing more than $216,000. Now that she’s pleaded guilty, some Trump supporters are furious.
Pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer posted, “I TOLD YOU NOT TO DONATE TO THIS DISLOYAL WENCH. . . . $216,000!!!! WWHAT A SCAM!!!”
Jenna Ellis scammed all of you who donated to her.
I TOLD YOU NOT TO DONATE TO THIS DISLOYAL WENCH.
Today she accepted a plea deal, which will only require her to pay a $5,000 fine and get probation for 5 years. She didn’t even attempt to fight the charges.
She’s now going… https://t.co/Ixof9IefZi pic.twitter.com/YywNJz1aKU
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 24, 2023
Similarly, Alex Bruesewitz called Ellis’ deal an “absolute disgrace.” She added, “Is she pocketing the money? I think she should return it.”
Meanwhile, critics on Ellis’ X feed reminded her of earlier tweets, asserting her innocence.
Wait, wha?! pic.twitter.com/XAlMsGhycy
— Brown Eyed Susan🟧🟦 (@smc429) October 24, 2023
Others urged her to “refund the donors.”
In addition to defending Trump, Ellis also defended prominent pastor John MacArthur in his fight with Los Angeles County and California over COVID restrictions. MacArthur has also claimed persecution in his COVID fight and other public controversies.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
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48 Responses
She is still lying.
But now it is to save her skin instead of Trump’s. They are all despicable.
Loren:
I would also add “christians” like her are deplorable.
I’m puzzled. Did she compromise her convictions to avoid jail time? She seems like a high-integrity person. I thought it was pretty well known there were voting irregularities in several states, including Georgia and Arizona, to name a couple that usually go Red. Closing voting for the night without calling the election, the sudden spike in Michigan that pub Biden in the lead, the 2000 Mules movie tracking the multiple ballot dumps, the weighted counting of the voting machines, covering up the windows of the counting rooms so no one could see what was happening (if there’s nothing to hide, why did they hide something?), etc. So many irregularities. What’s wrong with challenging an election? It’s been done before. I doubt that she made knowingly wrong statements. The liberal prosecutor in Georgia was just out to get her, so knowing she’d probably be found guilty, she caved instead of fighting back out of principle. I could be way off base, that just my barely informed opinion about it.
“The liberal prosecutor in Georgia was just out to get her”
–i take it you assume someone who isn’t on the far right couldn’t possibly operate in integrity?
Hi Ari, I think one takeaway from Jenna Ellis’ story is for everyone to be more careful about assumptions and less reckless in claiming things to be true when we really don’t know whether or not they are true. I plan to work on checking myself in that area. I wonder if you would mind if I point out an example in your comment? When you said “the liberal prosecutor in Georgia was just out to get her…” I think that’s quite an assumption, unless maybe you know the prosecutor personally and have asked her that and heard from her own lips that is indeed her only motive. Of course you also say you could be wrong, but I wonder if it would be even better not to mention something that is a pretty serous allegation when it could be completely wrong but could have very unjust consequences if it were spread around.
how far to the right do you have to be that it’s “liberal” to prosecute a pre-meditated attempt at overthrowing the Constitution?
Ari if you will investigate using a broad range of sources you will find lots of answers to those claims of irregularities.
Also, there were over 60 lawsuits presented by Trump and his allies. 86 judges were involved. 38 of them were appointed by Republicans. 8 of them were appointed by Trump. All of them judges ruled against Trump and his claims of a stolen election.
Should this not have satisfied those concerns?
And why was this not enough for Jenna Ellis?
“I thought it was pretty well known there were voting irregularities in several states”…
Fox isn’t news. It’s disinformation.
Also, isn’t this outright against your “beliefs”… I dunno, lying is a sin (insert verses from proverbs and psalms), what does it gain a man (insert verse from mark here), submit to rulers and authorities (insert romans verse here).
Find the right side of history.
nothing about her seems like integrity. she’s absolutely willing to say whatever is convenient at the time- the fact that you believe her lies about the election proves that.
Yes, you are way off base. If a candidate thinks there are voting irregularities that are significant enough to swing the results of an election, the law provides expedited review in the courts for stuff like that. Trump and his supporters brought dozens of such lawsuits, many of which were even right there in the states you mentioned. Many of the lawsuits were in courts presided over by judges who were pro-Trump or, at least, Republican. They were virtually begging Trump’s representatives to show them a scintilla of evidence that would support the relief Trump was seeking. In court after court after court, these judges–again, many of them GOP–were forced to rule against Trump. Why? BECAUSE THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE FOR WHAT TRUMP WAS ARGUING. So, instead of being respectable about it, instead of conceding with dignity, Trump decided to just take his grievances to the public sphere where forensic facts don’t matter. Every single piece of evidence you mentioned has been laid before a judge and come up short. Every. single. piece. Does this matter to Trump? Nope. Does it matter to you?
So, 6 weeks ago she was declaring her innocence.
And now, 42 days later, tears of contrition? Exploiting Jesus Christ to help it along? the hypocrisy is breathtaking.
Unethical opportunist, she is.
Yes, Ellis was crying and saying how important her Christian faith and ethics are blah blah blah…..
Though it is very interesting what was said in court, that Rudy and she also worked on the fake elector scheme in Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania. So they were really hard at work in overturning the 2020 election.
A little surprised she did not receive jail time…. but Fani Willis is just trying to clear the decks to focus on Trump and Rudy.
Unfortunately, 80% percent of white evangelicals will still believe the election was stolen and will vote again for Trump in 2024….and the super duper great white evangelical leaders will say how bad it is that prosecutors are targeting Trump….
The hypocrisy by the white U.S. evangelical church is beyond bounds….
This is what I said in the last TRR Article……………………………….
“Trump tried to overthrow the government with the big lead up to January 6th and beyond. Ellis decided to cast her lot with the Trump team.
The result is that she will be convicted, sent to jail, and lose her law license. Her law career will be over.
Please do not quote scripture when you are involved in supporting cut-throat politics.
The Trump cult runs very deep in the evangelical church.
Very few people in Congress believe (in private) the 2020 election was stolen, however the great majority of evangelicals believe it was stolen or even worse Trump won the Presidency.
So much for integrity in the evangelical community.”
“Very few people in Congress believe (in private) the 2020 election was stolen, however the great majority of evangelicals believe it was stolen or even worse Trump won the Presidency.” – and yet, every single remaining candidate for Speaker of the House directly challenged, supported the election challenge, and is still saying the election was stolen. The coup is still being attempted….
politics rarely has anything to do with truth.
Why would anyone feel the need to donate to someone’s legal defense fund who was ensconced in Trump’s billion dollar regime?
If she’s honest about her confession then great. But there is a remote possibility she provided a tearful response (Remember Jimmy Swaggart?) in order to gain sympathy and a lighter sentence.
It’s sad that Trump and his many avid supporters have given Evangelicalism a black eye. Too many crazy conspiracy theories and debunked documentaries have added to the list of ‘bad ideas’ embraced by the undiscerning that the election was stolen.
Evangelicals were well on their way to a black eye before trump. Trump just opened the door to the bigotry and hatred that was already lying within.
Now she’s just a lawyer who is a liar claiming to need a deity and a clique to claim her.
Prudence calls to wait and see. We are always quick to speak and slow to hear. We do not know the legal costs and if she made a killing on this. Then…you will know. Many people accept “deals” to avoid the hassle as well as the cost. Judge actions not motives. Her big mistake was her assistance and trust to relay information that she did it personally researched which se made clear in her testimony before the judge. That’s why whether a preacher, journalist, lawyer or etc… spouts information Do your own research. I love what Kennedy said in a recent town hall. He was being challenged by the news anchor stating that the expert opinion on COVID vaccine is… He responded and said, “ I do not live in an autocracy”. Just like Kennedy,I will do my own research. My views are not based off the news or picked quotes. I will be responsible for my own research. Never just take someone’s word!!! Hopefully Jenna will download that into her actions.
These threads are some of the most critical and harsh threads. Especially when one is not an echo chamber. Justice is not equally measured nor applied. Do your own research and query everything. If you are on the side of truth in a debased culture you will be attacked.
James:
You said–“If you are on the side of truth in a debased culture you will be attacked.” That seems like a self-serving statement to me.
Unfortunately when someone says “I do my own research” there’s a good chance they are deep into confirmation bias. One can find support for what one is inclined to believe.
Instead of encouraging people to “do your own research,” qualify it by explaining what good research is – looking at something from all angles, sifting through bias and motives, looking at reputation for truth telling. There are plenty of sites that do media bias reviews and it is helpful to see whether sources of information are on the extreme right or left.
A large segment of the population is suspicious of anything “mainstream”, even news sources that fall in the middle are viewed with suspicion, when they might be some of the best sources.
And the claim “I do my own research” usually means citing questionable sources, podcasts and You Tube videos to support their desired meaning.
“Do your own research…”?
Sorry, sir, but here is what that reads as when you’re talking about science and things that already involve empirical research and evidence:
“All my personal research into confirmation bias corroborates what I already believe about it.”
Things involving evidence based analysis and empirical research and evidence should be left to the experts who spend years, YEARS studying and training in these fields.
You wouldn’t call a pizza delivery driver out to do your plumbing because “welp, they did their own research”… or, maybe you would… I would not.
I would respect this carefully crafted confession if she were to take responsibility for her wrong actions due to her own ambitions and not just have blamed it on the information she was given and seemingly not doing her own due diligence. How can an ordinary citizen like me have a better grip on reality then a lawyer for one of the most powerful persons in US politics?
Exactly my thought as well… in fact millions of us knew more verified truth in a matter of days and weeks of the election than most magas, especially the headliners like Jenna et al. Hmmm wonder why?
Crocodile tears. I guess it was always there and I was just blind. But starting in 2015 with the majority of evangelicals coming out into the open for the support of a most “unchristians” like person, I have not a clue as to what a “christian” is any more. Certainly all of this nonsense has increased the nones and dones.
“The result is that she will be convicted, sent to jail, and lose her law license. Her law career will be over.”
Actually she took a plea deal and plead guilty to misdemeanors. The deal was no jail time and a person doesn’t lose their law license for a misdemeanor. Driving 20 miles over the speed limit in Georgia is a criminal offense and a misdemeanor. She got a great deal as have the other two defendants that have plead out because the case was very weak. Extraordinarily week.
I’m not really sure what this case has to do with holding clergy responsible for their actions or “ restoring the church “ .
Well, she had built work around representing churches (MacArthur, GTY) and she worked and was fired by a Christian University. It’s entirely relevant. Her legal career is nothing to write home about.
I can’t imagine what people would say if someone said ‘As an attorney who is also a Muslim…Hindu…Buddhist…Jewish…’.
I can’t imagine anybody outside of the Christian faith saying something like that anyway. For whatever reason, there are people who basically want to wear a little sash that says they’re a Christian. They’ve forgotten about praying in private.
By “Christian” she probably meant “An outstanding, moral person”
In a private meeting via Zoom with Repub Sec of State Raffensberger a month or more ago, he gave an update on the GA election results for 2020 after results were re-examined for fraud and totaled one more time.
What they found was only 2 dead people had voted, not the huge number election fraud perpetrators were spouting.
They had also claimed thousands of underaged voters had voted. Turned out there were none. Of course, this had no effect whatsoever on the outcome, so the claims by election fraud exponents were totally unfounded.
What an election worker told me in person from another state is that the machines are NOT connected to the internet.
(She doesn’t like that the voter rolls are available on line but that wouldn’t matter in terms of this outcome in GA. I think the latter is more of a security thing.).
She also said that when people cheat or try to, they get caught.
If Repub ballots hadn’t been counted then how do you explain that those same ballots that didn’t contain Trump votes contained votes for all the other Republicans down the ballot with the possible exception of Hershel Walker, formerly a GA football hero.
GA conservative voters apparently had their priorities.
She pled to a felony, Randy.
Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty (not to misdemeanors) but to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings.
Randy:
You said:”She got a great deal as have the other two defendants that have plead out because the case was very weak. Extraordinarily week.” How do you know this-why plead out if the case is weak? Are you a Trump supporter?
It is a weak case. I am not a Trump supporter. The case is based on her telling GA lawmakers she beleived there were fake votes. A reckless and unprofessional and biased opinion (hence the censuring). But is it illegal to believe there were fake votes?
Jim:
Your comment is pure spin IMO. Bless her poor little heart.
A plea agreement doesn’t always include all of the original charges. She also had charges of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Which also doesn’t mean she didn’t commit those crimes.
It’s interesting how such a “good christian” was willing to defend and perpetuate the lies of an egotistical conman until she realized he wasn’t going to pay her legal bills.
Summed it up perfectly, Tim.
It’s absolutely frightening to me how many people there are who still admittedly admire open and complete fascists. This country looks more like early 1930s Germany every day.
Sort of OT
Over 20 years ago I left the Evangelical subculture. Now with all this mess about Trump and unconditional commitment to him I have no desire to go back. Even though the pastors of many of their churches don’t sneak in politics into their talks I am fully aware that hundreds or even thousands (In most Megachurches) do obsess about politics and they look down on those who do not support Trump or who prefer to keep quiet about politics.
A pox on both their houses, to be honest. Ellis is responsible for knowingly saying some things she should have known to be false, yes; everybody is aware that you can vote fraudulently (why else would we have election judges, laws, etc..?), but due to the secret ballot, it’s darned near impossible to remove those votes when they’re cast. That’s why we regulate absentee ballots and the like, after all. It’s like toothpaste outside of the tube when the ballots are cast.
On the flip side, the Fulton County DA has sent two years on what should be an open and shut case (in Ellis’ case at least), and has done so in a way that reminds observant people that lying in court is one reason even a lot of Yankees often use the Southern pronunciation of “lawyer” as “liar”. So what we’ve got is some appalling behavior by both Ellis and her prosecutor. A pox on both of them.
The DA spent two years to avoid the mistake Jenna Ellis claimed she made, “failing to do her due diligence.” That’s not a ”pox”, on the DA, that’s a “merit.”
A “felony” is more severe than a “misdemeanor.” Jenna did not simply tell a “fib”, she conspired to overturn our presidential election -– with a group of criminals. RICO is what the North and the South calls “Organized Crime.”
She took the plea because as a somewhat competent attorney, she realized she could not refute the evidence against her serious crimes. That’s why it is pronounced “pleading guilty”.
The appalling behavior was one sided.
Debra, it does not take two years to figure out (a) an attorney’s claims are horrendously false and (b) that attorney must have known it. Like it or not, there is a lot of Inspector Javert in this, especially as there is another person who’s conspired to overturn elections right home in Georgia; Stacey Abrams. That’s not “due diligence”, that’s “beating a dead horse”. She may have taken the plea because she believed she was guilty; or she could have taken the plea because the consequences of not doing so would be personal bankruptcy.
By and large, if you’re making up novel legal theories in a prosecution that can only be charitably described as politically motivated (the NY AG’s persecution qualifies as the same, by the way), your “prosecution” is not a search for justice, but rather revenge.
It is obvious you do not know what you are talking about when you criticize a prosecutor for taking two years to set up a racketeering case. If you have ever tried a major civil or criminal case in court or been involved as a party in one, you would know how complex it can be and how it can’t be cranked out in a few months like an episode of “The People’s Court.”
In the world of high profile prosecutions, and especially ones that are as multi-faceted and multi-partied as this one, two years is normal.
If you want a high profile example from history, look back at the Mafia RICO trials in NYC in the late 1980s; those are the ones that Rudy Giuliani built his reputation on. The key pieces of evidence were developed from wiretaps in 1983, with investigation antecedents stretching back to the 1970s; grand juries were convening around 1985, handing down RICO indictments in early 1986; and the trials took place in November 1986. From a lawyer’s point of view, Ms. Ellis’s development of this particular racketeering case is proceeding at a normal, if not somewhat rapid, pace.
In a side point, it is Donald Trump who has asked the Georgia court to put the brakes on the whole matter!! He, evidently, disagrees with your “take” on the pace of this prosecution.
The comment section on this site might just be the closest thing to a “Christian” version of The Jerry Springer Show that exists. Just as a reminder, according to Jesus we are judged by the same standard we look down our noses at those pesky other people who don’t look at the world the same way we do.
Thank you Mike, I do appreciate the reminder
Mike, if people followed Jesus’s ACTUAL words, the hypocrisy wouldn’t exist. But I love the metaphor. It’s absolutely fitting.
Yeah, so please stop judging us, Mike.