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A third former lawyer has pled guilty to attempting to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Georgia.

Jenna Ellis, who was a member of the then president’s legal team, reached a plea deal with prosecutors rather than going to trial over the case.

She pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Ellis was charged alongside Trump and 17 others for violating the state’s anti-racketeering law.

The Georgia case is one of four criminal cases the former president is facing, and one of two specifically focused on his alleged attempts to reverse his defeat – the other being in Washington DC following the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.

Prosecutors recommended five years of probation for Ellis, along with paying $5,000 in restitution, serving 100 hours of community service, writing an apology letter to the people of Georgia and testifying truthfully in trials related to this case.

In a teary statement, Ellis, 38, said she relied on lawyers with much more experience than her and failed to verify whether the things they told her were true.

Read more:
Trump distances himself from Powell after guilty plea
What are the investigations Trump is facing?

Jenna Ellis reads a statement after she pledguilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings
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Ellis said she relied on lawyers with much more experience than her

Ellis was a leading voice in efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden, appearing alongside former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in press conferences repeating claims about the election being rigged.

In one interview on 20 November 2020, she said: “With all those states [Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia] combined we know that the election was stolen from President Trump and we can prove that.”

Jenna Ellis is shown in a police booking mugshot released by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office
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Jenna Ellis’s mugshot was released when she surrendered to authorities in August

She was censured in Colorado in March, where she was deputy district attorney in Weld County, after admitting she made false statements about the 2020 election.

Ellis joins Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, also members of Trump’s legal team, and Scott Hall, a pollster, in pleading guilty in the Georgia case. All three took plea deals.

Mugshots for Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Scott Hall. Pics: AP
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Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall have also pled guilty over the 2020 case. Pics: AP

Trump repeats false 2020 claims

Trump, the current frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, continues to claim without evidence that his 2020 loss was rigged.

While in New Hampshire to register for its presidential primary, he compared himself to Nelson Mandela over his four criminal cases.

“We’ve got to save our country from these fascists, these lunatics that we’re dealing with,” he said.

“They’re horrible people and they’re destroying our country.”

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Ted Cruz blasts ‘mafioso’ threats over Jimmy Kimmel suspension

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Ted Cruz blasts 'mafioso' threats over Jimmy Kimmel suspension

American Senator Ted Cruz has broken ranks with fellow US conservatives and
hit out at talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, saying it was “mafioso” behaviour.

Disney-owned ABC has been widely criticised after it pulled the long-standing host of Jimmy Kimmel Live following comments in his show about the alleged gunman charged with right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Kimmel implied the suspect was a Maga Republican, despite the man’s mother telling police he had “started to lean more to the left”.

As a result, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatened Disney and local broadcasters with investigations and regulatory action if they aired Kimmel’s show – which led to dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC pulling it.

US President Donald Trump, who appointed Carr, lauded the decision.

But Mr Cruz criticised the threats as “dangerous as hell”.

“I got to say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas’,” he said, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. “That’s right out of
a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here.

More on Jimmy Kimmel

“It would be a shame if something happened to it’.”

Senator Ted Cruz. Pic: AP
Image:
Senator Ted Cruz. Pic: AP

Explainer: What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

The senator, a former constitutional lawyer, then adopted a broad mafioso accent to quote Mr Carr’s comments about broadcasters this week: “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.”

Mr Trump fired back, telling reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he disagreed with Mr Cruz – one of the most
powerful Republicans in Congress – and calling Mr Carr “an incredible American patriot with courage.”

Demonstrations against his suspension have sprung up. Pic: AP
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Demonstrations against his suspension have sprung up. Pic: AP

The Texas senator’s remarks are a rare example of a prominent member of the president’s own party publicly
criticising the actions of the administration, highlighting deepening concerns over free-speech rights and Mr Trump’s threatened crackdowns.

Prominent Democrats and civil rights groups condemned the Trump administration’s pressure to punish Kimmel and others who speak negatively of the president.

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US talk show titans speak out

Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts have rallied around him, as did former US president Barack Obama, who wrote on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP
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Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating it.”

Conservative activists had been angered by Kimmel’s comments on his show that they were using the assassination to score “political points”.

Right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was shot dead on 10 September as he took part in a public debate at a college campus in Utah .

Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder, weapon, and obstruction of justice offences.

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US talk show titans come out fighting after Kimmel cancellation

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US talk show titans come out fighting after Kimmel cancellation

US talk show host Stephen Colbert has condemned the cancellation of fellow late-night star Jimmy Kimmel as a “blatant assault on freedom of speech”, as America’s top late night presenters came out fighting.

He used the opening of Thursday night’s edition of his Late Show to address the pulling of Jimmy Kimmel Live over comments made about the assassination of the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel used his show earlier this week to accuse the Trump administration and its allies of “working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”, with the president among those to pin it on left-wing extremism.

The move by Disney-owned ABC has been widely criticised, with the network accused of kowtowing to President Donald Trump, who celebrated the decision.

Also airing on Thursday night, Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s Daily Show, appeared in a garish gold set, in parody of Mr Trump’s redesign of the White House, to tell viewers the episode would be “another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show”.

Stewart, playing the role of an over-the-top, politically obsequious TV host under authoritarian rule, lavished praise on the president and satirised his criticism of US cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight crime.

“Coming to you tonight from the real […] crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no-one’s ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” he said.

He then introduced his guest – Maria Ressa, a journalist and author of the book How To Stand Up To A Dictator.

Jon Stewart. Pic: Associated Press
Image:
Jon Stewart. Pic: Associated Press

Over at The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon told his audience he was “not sure what was going on” but that Kimmel is “a decent funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back”.

Fallon then promised viewers that in spite of people being “worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we will be censored”, he was going to cover the president’s recent trip to the UK “just like I normally would”.

He was then replaced by a voiceover describing Mr Trump as “incredibly handsome” and “making America great again”.

Jimmy Fallon on Thursday's Tonight Show. Pic: The Tonight Show X
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Jimmy Fallon on Thursday’s Tonight Show. Pic: The Tonight Show X

Seth Meyers also joined the fray.

“Donald Trump is on his way back from a trip to the UK,” he said at the top of his show Late Night, “while back here at home, his administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech… and completely unrelated, I just wanted to say that I have always admired and respected Mr Trump.

“I have always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president, and an even better golfer.”

Kimmel’s removal from the show he has hosted for two decades led to criticism that free speech was under attack.

But speaking on his visit to Britain, Donald Trump claimed he was suspended “because he had bad ratings”.

It came after fellow late-night host Colbert saw his programme cancelled earlier this year, which fans claimed was also down to his criticism of Mr Trump, who has since railed against Kimmel, Meyers, and Fallon.

He has posted on Truth Social that they should all be cancelled.

Jimmy Kimmel hosting last year's Oscars. Pic: AP
Image:
Jimmy Kimmel hosting last year’s Oscars. Pic: AP

Figures from both the worlds of entertainment and politics lined up to lament ABC’s removal of Kimmel.

Chat show doyenne David Letterman said people should not be fired just because they don’t “suck up” to what he called “an authoritarian” president.

During an appearance at The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York on Thursday night, he added: “It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous.

“I feel bad about this, because we all see where see this is going, correct? It’s managed media.”

Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP
Image:
Barack Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Pic: Susan Walsh/AP

Former US president Barack Obama wrote on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent, and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating it.”

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Trump and Starmer quizzed on Epstein

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Trump and Starmer quizzed on Epstein

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Starmer and Trump meet at Chequers. A news conference with enormous consequences, not just for the US and UK, but for the global world order.

To match the occasion – a special mashup episode of Electoral Dysfunction and Trump100. Mark Stone is joined by Beth Rigby, Harriet Harman and Ruth Davidson.

As Team Trump leaves British soil… is Starmer better off now than he was at the start of the week?

Or is he still on the ropes?

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

Email us on trump100@sky.uk with your comments and questions.

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