Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
AP Photo/John Bazemore, File
Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted in Georgia under the state’s RICO Act.So far, four people have accepted plea deals, including Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell.At least 6 others were offered a deal, and that most likely doesn’t include Rudy Giuliani, per CNN.
At least six people were offered or discussed plea deals in the Fulton County, Georgia, indictment concerning former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sources told CNN.
The details of the plea deals were not disclosed. Sources told CNN that pro-Trump lawyer Robert Cheeley received an offer and former county elections supervisor Misty Hampton and former White House aide Micahel Roman are in talks about a potential deal.
Attorneys for Cheeley, Hampton, and Roman did not respond to a request for comment.
Cheeley’s attorney Richard Rice told CNN that the Fulton County’s District Attorney’s Office made an offer “some time ago” and it was declined.
“To say that we are currently in discussions with the DA’s office would be an inaccurate representation of what is going on,” Rice told the outlet.
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants in mid-August under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Using the racketeering law allows prosecutors to charge multiple people with various crimes under one case by arguing that those offenses were committed as part of a singular criminal enterprise or goal.
So far, four people have accepted plea deals from the Fulton County district attorney’s office: Georgia attorney Kenneth Chesebro; ex-Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell; and bail bondsman Scott Hall.
Part of District Attorney Fani Willis’ strategy could be to get as many co-defendants to flip on Trump in order to isolate him and others at the top of the indictment. Legal experts previously told Insider that having a large group of co-defendants is beneficial because some of them could feel compelled to cooperate with investigators in order to get lighter sentences.
“That could very well be the case but not necessarily,” Melissa Redmon, a former deputy district attorney at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office told Insider. “It could be that the prosecution is wanting to resolve as many of the cases as possible. There is still value in a defendant admitting their role in the enterprise even if they don’t directly implicate anyone else.”
A Fulton County spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors could offer more plea deals in the future, but that could depend on whether they can give something defendants are willing to take, Redmon said.
So far, Redmon noted, the co-defendants who have accepted plea deals have gotten a dismissal or reduction of charges.
Powell, for example, pled guilty to six misdemeanor counts and received six years of probation. None of the co-defendants who have accepted deals have had to plead guilty to the racketeering charge or received prison time.
And looking at more top co-defendants in the indictment, prosecutors might be less willing to dismiss charges, Redmon said.
One source familiar with the DA’s strategy told CNN that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former personal attorney and one of the key co-defendants in the case, has not received a plea deal.
“The closer you get to those at the top of the indictment, the state is likely not as willing to reduce or dismiss (charges), even if they are willing to recommend probation,” Redmon said. “So someone like Giuliani may still get an offer, but it may require him to plead to the indictment including the RICO count.”
Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s political adviser, told Insider in a statement that the only deal Giuliani is making “is to tell the truth” and accused Georgia prosecutors of being partisan Democrats “focused on their own partisan politician ambitions and keeping President Donald Trump out of the White House.”