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Another defendant charged alongside former President Donald Trump over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia may cut a deal with prosecutors, according to a legal expert.
Jeffrey Clark, a former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer, was among 18 people charged with Trump in a sweeping indictment accusing them of violating Georgia's anti-racketeering law.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has secured guilty pleas from four defendants as part of plea deals that commit them to testify truthfully in future trials in the case. Trump and the others charged in the case have pleaded not guilty.
This could have an effect on the dynamic in Fulton County. The 3 lawyers who pleaded all structured their pleas to minimize the collateral risk of losing licenses to practice. Now that Clark is facing same, he may be looking to cut a deal w/ Fani Willis's office. https://t.co/Njza9Y6f0u
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) November 7, 2023
Three attorneys—Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—all chose to accept responsibility for their conduct rather than take their chances before a jury. A lower-profile defendant in the case, bail bondsman Scott Graham Hall, also pleaded guilty to several misdemeanor charges in the case in September.
Clark could soon follow, according to Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general.
According to the indictment, the former Department of Justice official drafted a letter to Georgia state officials that falsely claimed the department "identified significant concerns" that may have impacted the state's election results. He wanted the letter sent, but senior department officials refused.
District of Columbia Bar authorities charged Clark last year with allegedly attempting to "engage in conduct involving dishonesty" and attempting actions "that would seriously interfere with the administration of justice."
He will face attorney disciplinary proceedings in January.
Those proceedings "could have an effect on the dynamic in Fulton County," Litman wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Ellis, Powell and Chesebro "all structured their pleas to minimize the collateral risk of losing licenses to practice," he wrote. "Now that Clark is facing same, he may be looking to cut a deal w/ Fani Willis's office."
Legal analysts have suggested that former Trump lawyer John Eastman could also cooperate against the former president in a criminal case.
Newsweek has contacted attorneys for Clark and Trump for comment via email.
Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington recently said he was "confused" by the three guilty pleas from his former lawyers.
She added that Trump is "not really bothered by it because he knows he did nothing wrong and we're gonna win."
Harry MacDougald, an attorney for Clark, said in September that Clark was acting within the scope of his official duties when he wrote a letter, the Associated Press reported.
The AP said that Clark was identified as one of six unnamed co-conspirators in another indictment filed in August by special counsel Jack Smith charging Trump with seeking to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election. Clark hasn't been charged in that case.
The former president, who is running to regain the White House, is also facing criminal charges in two other cases, related to his handling of classified documents and hush money payments. Earlier this week, he took the stand in a $250 million civil fraud trial.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more