'Real Bad with a capital B': Ex-prosecutor says Trump should be worried after former lawyers agree to plea deals and turn on him
"There's no way this can be spun as a good thing for Trump," a criminal defense lawyer and former New York prosecutor told Insider.
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- A former prosecutor saidTrump should be worried about his ex-attorneys' plea deals in Georgia.
- Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro struck deals in the Georgia 2020 election interference case.
- "There's no way this can be spun as a good thing for Trump," a former prosecutor told Insider.
Donald Trump should be worried after two of his former attorneys flipped and took last-minute plea deals in the Georgia 2020 election interference case against him, a former New York prosecutor told Insider on Friday.
Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro striking deals with prosecutors in the Fulton County district attorney's case charging Trump and his allies over efforts to overturn Trump's loss in the state in the 2020 election could be "potentially devastating," said Mark Bederow, a former prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney's office.
"There's no way this can be spun as a good thing for Trump," said Bederow. He emphasized that it's "real bad with a capital B" for Trump.
Bederow added, "Nobody wants co-defendants pleading guilty and flipping on remaining defendants whether it's Trump or anyone else.
Chesebro and Powell were among 18 co-defendants charged alongside Trump in the sprawling case. Using the state's version of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (known as RICO), prosecutors allege that the co-defendants operated a "criminal organization" to conspire to overturn the 2020 election results.
Just before they were set to go to trial, Chesebro and Powell struck plea deals with prosecutors and agreed to testify at future trials of other co-defendants, who include former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, and Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Powell, a longtime GOP lawyer who relentlessly pushed baseless election-fraud conspiracy theories, pleaded guilty to lesser charges — six counts of conspiracy to interfere with election duties — on Thursday. Chesebro followed suit on Friday, pleading guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to file false documents.
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Both guilty pleas are a major win for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Bederow said.
"You want the smaller fish to plead guilty, cooperate and try to go up the ladder and the guy standing at the top of the ladder is Trump, so we'll see what they have to offer," said Bederow.
Chesebro and Powell's plea deals open the door for prosecutors to "pump" them for any additional information and potential evidence related to the case regardless of whether they're ultimately called to testify as prosecution witnesses, Bederow said.
"From the DA standpoint, you're trimming the fat, gathering intel," he said. "Presumably this should get [prosecutors] at least one step closer to the top of the ladder."
Additionally, Bederow said, the plea deals will likely bolster the public's perception in the legitimacy of the charges and could prompt other co-defendants in the case to turn on Trump.
"Any of the remaining defendants who had close contacts and allegedly conspired with Powell or Chesebro, should they be concerned? Yes," Bederow said. "And could that perhaps influence them also to jump off the ship? It can."
The plea deals also deprives Trump — who has pleaded not guilty in this case as well as his three other criminal cases — and his lawyers of the "golden opportunity" to see in advance how Fulton County prosecutors would present their case, said Bederow.
Trump's team downplayed the significance of the plea deals in a statement.
"It appears to me that the guilty plea to count 15 of the Fulton County indictment was the result of pressure by Fani Willis and her team and the prosecution's looming threat of prison time," Trump lawyer Steve Sadow told Insider. "However, it is very important for everyone to note that the RICO charge and every other count was dismissed. Once again, I fully expect that truthful testimony would be favorable to my defense strategy."
Additional reporting by Grace Goodwin