In her plea, Powell acknowledges her involvement in the January 2021 breach of election systems in Coffee County, Georgia. Assisted by local GOP officials, a group of Trump enthusiasts accessed and duplicated data from the county’s election systems, aiming to demonstrate that the election was manipulated against Trump.
Prosecutors from Fulton County suggest a six-year probationary sentence for Powell. She is also mandated to testify in upcoming trials, pen an apology to Georgia’s residents, pay close to $9,000 in restitution and fines, and hand over pertinent documents.
Trump, also a defendant in the Fulton County case, is not mentioned in Powell’s plea documents nor was he referenced during the brief plea hearing.
Post the 2020 election, Powell propagated conspiracy theories about alleged fraud and made unfounded allegations about millions of votes being manipulated in an international plot against Trump, implicating Venezuela and other nations.
She is now the second individual to plead guilty in this extensive racketeering case. Previously, bail bondsman Scott Hall entered a guilty plea and consented to testify in future trials. The remaining 17 defendants, Trump included, have entered not guilty pleas.
Court documents reveal that Powell confessed to actions post the 2020 election with the intent of tampering with electronic voting systems and appropriating data from Dominion Voting Systems Corporation. She also admitted to commissioning a data forensics firm to unlawfully access government computers in Coffee County to inspect personal voter data without proper authorization.
Powell’s legal team had previously refuted claims that she masterminded the Coffee County breach, asserting that she wasn’t the primary instigator.
Only Misty Hampton, the Coffee County elections supervisor during the 2020 election, is named in the recent plea documents. Powell confessed to conspiring with Hampton and will be required to testify against her in court. Hampton has entered a not guilty plea to seven felony charges.
The trial, initially set to start on Friday, has been significantly altered due to Powell’s last-minute plea. While Powell and co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro were set for a trial, it seems Chesebro will now proceed alone. Chesebro has pleaded not guilty to charges related to his involvement in a fake-electors scheme.
Apart from the Georgia case, Powell faces other legal challenges. She is an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal election subversion case against Trump, led by special counsel Jack Smith. Moreover, Powell is contending with substantial defamation lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for falsely accusing them of manipulating the 2020 election against Trump. These cases are currently in the pre-trial discovery stage.