Former President Donald J. Trump on Sunday said Sidney Powell, who pleaded guilty Thursday in the Georgia elections interference case – and agreed to testify against other defendants – was never a part of his legal team.
Powell, of “unleash the kraken” fame, pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor charges in connection with the wide ranging criminal conspiracy case centered around the 45th President playing out in the Peach State. On Sunday, Trump used his social media platform to declare that Powell was not his attorney, but rather was serving as legal counsel for his disgraced former National Security Advisory, Michael Flynn.
“Sidney Powell was one of millions and millions of people who thought, and in ever increasing numbers still think, correctly, that the 2020 Presidential Election was RIGGED & STOLLEN, AND OUR COUNTRY IS BEING ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF IT!!! Despite the Fake News reports to the contrary, and without even reaching out to ask the Trump Campaign, MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS,” Trump wrote.
The former president’s effort to put distance between himself and the Texas attorney comes after Powell agreed to serve six years of probation, pay a $6,000 fine, and to testify truthfully regarding the activities of her co-defendants. Powell had been charged, along with Trump and more than a dozen others, for their alleged efforts to interfere with elections in Georgia.
Trump’s assertion Powell did not serve as part of his legal team is at odds with previous declarations made by the former president. In November of 2020, Trump wrote on X, the social media platform then known as Twitter, that Powell would join a team spearheaded by his personal attorney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
I look forward to Mayor Giuliani spearheading the legal effort to defend OUR RIGHT to FREE and FAIR ELECTIONS! Rudy Giuliani, Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, a truly great team, added to our other wonderful lawyers and representatives!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020
“I look forward to Mayor Giuliani spearheading the legal effort to defend OUR RIGHT to FREE and FAIR ELECTIONS! Rudy Giuliani, Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, a truly great team, added to our other wonderful lawyers and representatives,” he wrote then.
No court accepted any of the arguments made by Powell or any other lawyer representing the former president’s claims the election was rigged or stolen. Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden after netting 74,223,975 votes to the now-sitting president’s 81,283,501, and following an electoral college defeat of 232 – 306.
Powell is listed, though not named, as one of six unindicted co-conspirators in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal case charging Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
The D.C. grand jury indictment charging the former president indicates Trump told others that Powell’s unfounded claims of election fraud were “crazy” while simultaneously promoting a lawsuit that Powell filed seeking to overturn the election results in Georgia.
Herald wire services contributed.
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