Sidney Powell 'extortion' claim means plea deal should be rescinded: Legal experts
October 26, 2023
MAGA lawyer Sidney Powell has continued to peddle election conspiracies despite pleading guilty last week to her role in the 2020 election conspiracy in Georgia – and experts are saying she can't have it both ways.
On her Truth Social and Telegram Wednesday, Powell said that she still firmly believes the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and even attacked the Fulton County District Attorney's Office for what she called "extortion" to get her to cooperate.
Speaking on a panel Thursday, Lawfare editors Roger Parloff and Quinta Jurecic joined correspondent Anna Bower and legal expert Ben Wittes in agreement – Powell's plea should be rescinded.
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Powell pleaded guilty last Thursday to six charges related to her breach of election equipment and stealing sensitive voter information in Coffee County, Georgia. Prosecutors agreed to drop the racketeering charge as well as others, and allow her to avoid prison in exchange for a plea and cooperation with investigators.
But if it turns out she was unlawfully manipulated into taking the plea, the legal experts explained, the trial needs to start instead.
Wittes explained that Powell should know what happens if someone pleads guilty and then goes back on it – because she was serving as former Trump adviser Michael Flynn's lawyer when he did exactly that.
Parloff explained that, in the federal system, you nail the person down in plea hearings and they sign a statement about what they're pleading to. He said, with Powell, he felt like it was "mushy."
"In Georgia, I don't know what they'll do. A judge will immediately demand that a person would come back into court to discuss what just happened," he said.
See the full conversation in the video below or at the link here.
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