Former Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Agrees To Cooperate In Arizona’s Fake Electors Case

On Monday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that Jenna Ellis, a former Donald Trump attorney and one of the 18 defendants in the Arizona fake electors case from the 2020 election, is cooperating with the prosecution.

Ellis, who served as Trump’s senior legal advisor from early 2019 until shortly after he left office in January 2021 and was involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, signed a cooperation agreement Monday morning, leading prosecutors to drop the charges against her.

“This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case,” said Mayes, a Democrat, in a statement. “I am grateful to Ms. Ellis for her cooperation with our investigation and prosecution.”

In April, after Mayes announced a “robust” investigation into the Republicans’ fake electors scheme from the 2020 presidential election, an Arizona grand jury indicted 18 individuals including 11 fake electors and seven Trump aides.

Ellis was among several high-profile individuals charged, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

With Ellis’s recent cooperation, she no longer faces nine felony charges and is no longer at risk of prison time. Her cooperation also now provides prosecutors with a key witness who can offer crucial insights into the electoral schemes.

Last fall, Ellis reached a similar agreement after pleading guilty in Georgia to aiding and abetting false statements.

After her guilty plea, the former Trump lawyer expressed “deep remorse” for her actions and admitted that she should not have represented the former president in the case.

As part of her Georgia agreement, Ellis committed to providing evidence to prosecutors. Arizona prosecutors hope to gain similar benefits from her cooperation.

Recent legal history shows that once one defendant cooperates, others often follow. So, while Ellis may be the first to flip in the Arizona case, she is unlikely to be the last.

Like several other prominent Trump allies, Ellis was not always a fervent supporter of the former president.

During Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Republican lawyer repeatedly called the then-candidate an “idiot,” and labeled him as an “unethical, corrupt, lying criminal dirtbag.”

Ellis also criticized Trump’s supporters, saying they disregarded “facts or logic.”

Ellis later reversed her position, joining Trump’s legal team and becoming an ardent advocate for his  2020 defeat claims, as well as radical tactics to keep him in office despite the election results.

However, last year she returned to her original stance, stating, “I simply can’t support him for elected office again,” adding, “Why I have chosen to distance is because of that frankly malignant narcissistic tendency to simply say that he’s never done anything wrong.”