The attorney who secured a plea deal with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for Jenna Ellis said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani “should be” worried about his client’s testimony at trial during an interview published Wednesday.
Ellis (pictured above, left), who was a member of former President Donald Trump’s legal team during the 2020 election contest, accepted her plea deal because it seemed as though “timing was of the essence” following the deals secured by attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Attorney Frank Hogue, a Macon-based attorney who described his family as “anti-Trump liberal Democrats” to the outlet, confirmed that her testimony could be damaging to Giuliani. When asked if the former mayor should be concerned, Hogue replied, “I think he should be.”
Hogue said, “There’s enough for Mayor Giuliani to worry about that wouldn’t have anything to do with Jenna Ellis. I mean, she wouldn’t be a help to him, I don’t think, if she was to be called as a witness. But I think his troubles extend far beyond her.”
Ellis became the fourth defendant to accept a plea deal last week when she entered a guilty plea. In that apology, Ellis seemed to shift blame to Giuliani (pictured above, right), stating she should not have relied “on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience” and failed to “make sure that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were, in fact, true.”
Expressing “great remorse” for her behavior, Ellis claimed that “if I knew then what I knew now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges.” She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to make false statements, specifically to the Georgia Senate.
One clip of Ellis’ apology went viral on X, formerly Twitter, receiving more than 4 million views by press time.
Jenna Ellis reads a tearful statement in court after her guilty plea where she throws Rudy Giuliani under the bus and says she wishes she had never gotten involved. pic.twitter.com/GFSXAlxuzs
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 24, 2023
Hogue told the outlet it was Ellis’ decision to make her apology in public, explaining that “she did not have to say anything publicly, but she chose to.” The lawyer said he “thought it was a good move” and “the right thing to do.”
He told the outlet that his firm accepted Ellis’ case because “we thought it’d be interesting” and “part of history.” He then noted criminal defense attorneys defend all types of clients, including those accused of “trying to destroy American democracy.”
Though Hogue suggested the plea deal he secured should allow Ellis to keep her law license, her criminal conviction in Georgia will require a review that may preclude her from practicing in Colorado.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News, and also reports for The Tennessee Star and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jenna Ellis” and “Rudy Giuliani” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
