The “knockout blow” video of Jenna Ellis admitting that a staffer told her Donald Trump was 'not going to leave' the White House was leaked to the press by one of his co-defendant’s lawyers.
Misty Hampton’s lawyer Jonathan Miller made the admission Wednesday at a hearing to discuss Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ emergency motion for a protective order filed in response to the leak.
“So that I can go to sleep well tonight, judge," Miller told Fulton County court Judge Scott McAfee, "I did release those videos to one outlet."
While initial reports tied the leaked video, shared Monday by ABC News, to Harrison Floyd’s attorneys, that connection was later revealed to the fault of a typo in an email, according to CNN.
Miller told McAfee he felt compelled to share the proffer video because it helped Hampton, a former Coffee County election director, by showing the workings behind several plea deals made in Willis' case.
“I believe they help my client,” Miller said. “The public has a right to know.”
McAfee commended Miller on his turn-of-phrase but asked for specifics; “It’s a good slogan, but do we have any case law?”
Miller argued he had a right to any news cycle control he could claim in the high-profile case, in which Trump and a dwindling number of co-defendants stand accused of corruptly trying to overturn Georgia’s presidential election in 2020. The former president has pleaded not guilty.
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“This is a very, very public trial,” Miller said. He then argued Willis’ requested protective order would allow her office “to set the tone for the entire trial.”
Willis, meanwhile, has argued the videos were leaked in order to intimidate her witnesses.
The protective order was later granted.
Said McAfee, “It seems like having open files…comes with a lot of side effects we haven’t thought through.”
