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Jenna Ellis, a conservative lawyer who was charged alongside Donald Trump and 17 others in the Georgia election-interference investigation, is continuing to attack the former president amid speculation she could flip on him during the case.
Ellis served as Trump's lawyer during the 2020 presidential campaign. She has pleaded not guilty to violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' expansive probe.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges the prosecutor has brought on him and dismissed any possibility that he would accept a plea deal.
Despite at one time being a close ally of Trump, Ellis has started to turn on the former president as he is not paying her legal fees in the Georgia election case. The lawyer has also become a more vocal supporter of Trump's main rival in the GOP 2024 presidential primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
While there is no indication Ellis is starting or willing to cooperate with prosecutors in Georgia, she is continuing to speak out against Trump and his 2024 campaign at a time when others charged in the criminal investigation are hoping to be trialed separately.
Willis may be hoping to whittle down the number of defendants in her sprawling RICO case as she aims to put them all on trial together. Newsweek has contacted Ellis' legal team for comment via email.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, discussing the potential to pardon those convicted of non-violent crimes during the January 6 attack, Ellis wrote on September 4: "DeSantis said he would consider pardons on a case by case basis.
"Trump could have issued a blanket pardon before he left office, with certain requisite conditions to be ascertained later on a case by case basis (such as non-violent individuals for instance, to foreclose pardoning anyone in your example). Why didn't he?" she added.
In a separate X post from September 1, Ellis wrote: "Has Trump defended the J6ers [January 6, 2021 accused]? Has Trump defended the indicted lawyers? Has Trump defended the pastors jailed or threatened with fines over [former Chief Medical Advisor Anthony] Fauci's failed covid policies Has he paid for anyone's legal defense except himself (oh and Jason Miller's child support lawyer)?"
Ellis also accused Trump of using supporters' donations to help Miller, senior adviser on Trump's last three presidential campaigns, with his child-support legal battles, in a separate X post.
"I have no problem with Trump using donations to fight a weaponized government. I Encouraged people to donate after the first NY indictment," Ellis wrote. "I do have a problem with Trump using little grandmas' pensions to pay for Jason Miller's child support battles."
In another recent social post expressing support for DeSantis, Ellis said: "I'm sick of a weak and feckless party that has no moral contours and is more concerned with memes than winning. The clear standout is Ron DeSantis, and he's the only shot that Republicans have to win in 2024." However, it is Trump who remains the early frontrunner for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.
Tristan Snell, a lawyer and former assistant attorney general for New York state, was one of those who said that Ellis could flip on Trump. His post came amid reports the former president is refusing to pay her legal bills in the Georgia case.
"Watch Ellis carefully now. When Trump cuts someone off, it's the tipping point that results in the person flipping on Trump," Snell posted in August. "My bet: Ellis will cooperate."
Michael Cohen, Trump's one-time lawyer, has since become a vocal critic of the former president. He too said in August that the former president is taking a huge risk by not helping Ellis and fellow Georgia defendant and former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani with their legal bills.
"Donald's an idiot. Let me just be very clear when it comes to paying money. He is truly an idiot," Cohen told CNN.
"He has not learned yet that three people you don't want to throw under the bus: your lawyer, your doctor and your mechanic, because one way or the other, you're going to go down the hill, and there'll be no brakes."
Cohen served time in prison after pleading guilty to federal tax crimes; lying to Congress; and to campaign finance violations in 2018. This was in relation to hush-money payments paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep alleged affairs between the women and Trump a secret ahead of the 2016 election.
Cohen later testified against the former president in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's separate falsifying business records investigation over the hush money paid to Daniels, in which Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges. The former president denies any wrongdoing. He has frequently accused President Joe Biden's administration of having "weaponized" the FBI and Department of Justice to try to hinder his 2024 presidential campaign.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more