'Weighing on her': Legal expert explains likely reason Sidney Powell pleaded guilty

Donald Trump's "Kraken" lawyer Sidney Powell likely pleaded out in her criminal case in Georgia because she had a separate case weighing on her, a legal expert said on Thursday.

Powell's guilty plea was made public earlier in the day, leaving onlookers to speculate about why she decided to cop to some misdemeanors, and potentially to testify against the ex-president.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin thinks she figured out the answer.

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"When folks ask why Sidney Powell pled guilty in Fulton County, yes, the risk of felony convictions was surely on her mind," Rubin wrote. "But also weighing on her? Ongoing civil litigation, including Dominion's suit."

She further pointed out that Powell "tried to dismiss that case, but in August 2021, a D.C. federal judge rejected her motion to dismiss entirely."

"More recently, on October 4, just 19 days out from the start of her criminal trial in Fulton County, Powell asked for a 60-day stay of discovery in the Dominion case," Rubin added. "She noted that responding to discovery or appearing for a deposition could implicate her Fifth Amendment rights."

Rubin went on to say that Dominion responded to Powell only yesterday, and that she has been "losing all of her pretrial motions before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.

Powell is being sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems after frequent appearances on TV in which she said the company had rigged its voting machines to favor Biden.

"It was clear that civil case would likely go on during her criminal trial. And the $ at risk in that case could have been a big incentive for Powell to plead," she claimed.

Rubin concluded by saying the guilty pleas don't affect the Dominion suit, while the trial itself likely would have.

"Powell pled guilty to six counts of conspiring to interfere with Misty Hampton's performance of her election-related duties in Coffee County. Her plea is largely irrelevant to the claims in Dominion's defamation and deceptive trade practices suit," she said. "On the other hand, if her criminal trial had gone forward, there could have been much more overlap between the DA's evidence against her and Dominion's suit."