Guilty pleas are 'dam-breaking' for Fani Willis' effort to convict Trump: Legal expert

Georgia prosecutors are moving closer to Donald Trump after securing guilty pleas from three of his legal advisers that experts describe as "dam-breaking"

Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell have all pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, which could mean all three 2020 campaign attorneys could testify against the former president at trial – and even if they can't directly implicate him in a crime, they could help Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis flip other co-defendants, reported Bloomberg.

“There’s a dam-breaking effect,” said former New York federal prosecutor Sarah Krissoff. “More significant than perhaps the testimony that these individuals may give against Trump is the fact that it may just signify a trend of others being willing to cooperate against him to save their own hides.”

Each of their guilty pleas focused on specific elements of the wide-ranging scheme to overturn Georgia's election results while ignoring other aspects of their alleged involvement, and legal experts say that appears to be intended to peel off other layers of the conspiracy – and Willis won't have to give Trump a preview of her jury presentations.

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“They appear to be doing this very strategically, looking at the people they would need to construct their case and build it out,” said Amy Lee Copeland, a former federal prosecutor in Georgia.