By Marlyn Montilla
06 Aug 2024, 11:31 AM EDT
Former legal adviser to President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, Jenna Ellis, has agreed to cooperate with Arizona prosecutors in connection with alleged efforts to subvert President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also agreed to drop nine felony charges against Ellis in exchange for his cooperation in investigations into the alleged attempt to deliver the state’s 11 Electoral College votes to the New York magnate instead of the Democrat.
The charges included fraud, forgery and conspiracy.
“This settlement represents a significant step forward in our case,” Mayes said in a statement announcing the agreement, which was signed by Ellis on Monday.
The attorney general called Ellis’s comments “invaluable” as investigations continue into the other 17 defendants in the case. The attorney general added that their cooperation “will greatly assist the State in proving its case in court.”
In the deal, Ellis agreed to testify against the defendants and provide prosecutors with materials related to the alleged scheme, CBS News reported.
In April, an Arizona grand jury indicts Trump’s former lawyer and 17 others, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. All defendants pleaded not guilty at the time.
The indictment alleges that Trump allies met on December 14, 2020, to sign a certificate claiming the Republican was the winner of the state, even though Biden had won by more than 10,000 votes.
The fake document was submitted to Congress as part of a larger conspiracy to challenge Biden’s victory when lawmakers met on January 6, 2021.
Ellis served as legal counsel to Trump’s campaign in the 2020 election.
She pleaded guilty in October in a Georgia election case and was sentenced to five years’ probation. She also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in that case.
“In the frenetic pace of attempting to file challenges to the election in several states, including Georgia, I failed to do my due diligence,” he said in a court appearance in October.
“I believe in and value election integrity. Had I known then what I know now, I would have refused to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges. I look back on this entire experience with deep regret.”
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