Jenna Ellis rushed to make deal after other Trump attorneys pleaded guilty in Ga.: lawyer

The writing was on the wall for Jenna Ellis as soon as two other Donald Trump lawyers pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case, according to an exclusive interview the Atlanta Journal-Constitution did with a member of the ex-Trump attorney's legal team.

Fulton County prosecutors met with Ellis' attorneys last month and said she could resolve her case by pleading guilty to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy to overturn Trump's presidential election loss in the state – but at the time that was unacceptable to her defense team, according to her report.

“That was about a three-second conversation,” her attorney, Frank Hogue, told the newspaper. “Long enough to say, ‘No, we’re not doing RICO.’”

However, they moved quickly toward a plea agreement after former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty shortly before their trial was set to begin earlier this month.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

“I think what really accelerated it was Powell and Chesebro falling as they did, one right after the other,” Hogue said. “It looked like timing was of the essence for us.”

Hogue declined to say whether his team reached out to prosecutors first or the other way around, but Ellis agreed to plead guilty Oct. 23 and appeared in court the following day to admit to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, a felony that could carry up to five years in prison.

She was sentenced to five years of probation under the First Offender Act and agreed to cooperate with investigators. She could be a star witness against Trump or his campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani, but Hogue downplayed the threat she poses to the former New York City mayor.

“I think there’s enough for Mayor Giuliani to worry about that wouldn’t have anything to do with Jenna Ellis," Hogue said. "I mean, she wouldn’t be a help to him, I don’t think, if she was to be called as a witness. But I think his troubles extend far beyond her.”

Hogue had hoped negotiations with Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis' office would allow Ellis to keep her law license, and prosecutors made clear that she did not commit a crime of “moral turpitude,” which some states consider to be grounds for disbarment.

Ellis chose to read her apology in court, in contrast to Powell, Chesebro and co-defendant Scott Hall, whose mea culpas remain under seal.

“She wanted to do that,” Hogue said. "So it’s, in essence, the apology that was requested as the part of the plea, though she did not have to say anything publicly, but she chose to, and I thought it was a good move. It was the right thing to do.”