According to a report from NBC News, a Beverly Hills woman who lost her salon business after she was indicted on seven counts related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, told supporters on a group call that she regrets accepting a plea deal -- and expressed confidence that Donald Trump will be "coming back" in a later interview.
As previously reported by New York Magazine, Gina Bisignano pleaded guilty last year to six of seven counts filed against her, with an agreement to cooperate "fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly” with investigators which could also include taking polygraph tests, “participating in covert law enforcement activities” and turning over “any and all evidence of crimes” of which she was aware.
Now NBC is reporting that she thinks she made a mistake after reportedly spending over $80,000 in legal fees and, after hearing that the former president dangle the promise of pardons at a Texas rally, she expressed frustration with her earlier decision.
"In her chat with supporters, Bisignano said she didn’t know why she did what she did, but that pro-Trump mob was fueled by 'very righteous anger.' Bisignano claimed in the recording that police at the U.S. Capitol 'attacked' the mob of Trump supporters. She claimed that police actions — after the mob broke through barricades and gave a female U.S. Capitol Police officer a concussion — 'riled everybody up.' And she suggested that the apology she gave to a judge during her guilty plea wasn't exactly full-hearted," NBC is reporting after confirming with her that it was her voice on the recording.
NBC reports she "encouraged another Jan. 6 defendant on the call not to take a plea deal, and indicated she had regrets about her own plea," stating, "If you don't have to do it, if you could hold it out, don't do it. I wish I didn't. Just wait it out, wait it out. I wish that I was stronger, because I was so weak when I signed it," and then adding, "If I could do it again. I wouldn't."
She continued, "I was forced to do a plea deal because I was so damn scared for my life, and I don't even know what I signed, because I couldn't even get myself out of bed," before adding she signed it "to stay out of jail."
Confronted with her comments by NBC, she attempted to walk them back and made excuses for why she took the deal.
“I didn’t say I regret the plea deal. I think people should take plea deals... own up to what you did, and move forward," she explained in an interview. "I want to help, because I want to get out of this mess. What am I going to do, be like all these other people and try to fight something that we're never going to win?"
Bisignano went on to add that she fully expects that Trump will make a comeback and insisted that her view on the 2020 election has not changed, telling NBC, "I’m not squealing on anybody, I don’t blame the president. It wasn’t the president’s fault at all. I still know the election was stolen, there’s no doubt. No doubt.”
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