These Trump allies haven't been offered plea deals – here's what that might mean

Several codefendants in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' sprawling racketeering case have received plea deals in exchange for their cooperation with prosecutors' case – but many have not.

The Guardian's Hugo Lowell reports that the lack of a deal for a number of key Trump associates -- most notably attorneys John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani – suggests that Willis is determined to make them stand trial without the possibility of cutting an agreement that will help them avoid jail time.

This likely indicates that Giuliani and Eastman are higher-level targets for prosecutors, who want to secure damaging testimony from lower players such as Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Kenneth Chesebro before making a move on the people they have deemed the architects of the alleged criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

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According to Lowell's sources, Trump associates who have not received plea offers are starting "to reconsider their legal strategy and weigh options such as seeking a speedy trial."

In addition to Giuliani and Eastman, Lowell reports that former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows has also not yet been offered a plea deal, which adds some more intrigue to this week's leak about Meadows having an immunity deal in exchange for cooperation with special counsel Jack Smith's separate probe into Trump's efforts to cling to power.

However, legal experts tell Lowell that Meadows may be out of luck if he thinks that cooperating with Smith will make Willis open to a plea deal, as "the fact that Meadows testified only after being compelled by a court order appears to suggest he was a reluctant witness."