Nov.14

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More Detail in Georgia RICO Case Revealed

Part of the arrangement for the conspirators who took a plea deal in the Georgia RICO case was that they would sit for a recorded video interview under oath with prosecutors. There they told their stories. These recordings were made to ensure that in court they would tell the same stories. Telling conflicting versions of the same story under oath is one of those silly no-no's the courts have. Making up new stories in court that contradicted the earlier recordings would get them nailed for perjury. The recordings are a kind of insurance policy for the prosecutors to make sure the witnesses don't get cold feet after a few rounds of intimidation by Donald Trump.

Somehow, the recordings leaked out and The Washington Post got ahold of them and ran an article describing some new facts not previously public. The audio quality was poor on some of them, suggesting that they were not the original recordings, but that someone had a recording app going on a cell phone while the originals were being played. The interviews were from Jenna Ellis, Kenneth "The Cheese" Chesebro, Sidney Powell, and Scott Hall. None of the interviews are wildly incriminating, but every piece of evidence that Trump knew he was trying to overturn an election could help the case.

Here are a few of the new revelations.

• Ellis: Late in 2020, when Ellis told Trump's deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino that they were running out of options, Scavino told her: "And he [Trump] said to me, you know, in a kind of excited tone, 'Well we don't care and we're not going to leave.'" This indicates that Trump probably knew he lost and was determined to stay on anyway. One problem with this testimony is that Trump's lawyers will tell the judge it is inadmissible because it is hearsay. Ellis didn't hear Trump say that and testifying "Somebody told me X" could be ruled inadmissible. Of course, now that the cat is out of the bag, the prosecution could call Scavino to testify, and his testimony would be as an eyewitness and definitely admissible.
  
  
• Chesebro: In a previously unreported meeting, Chesebro told Trump about the scheme for fake electors. He is an eyewitness and his testimony will kill off any defense from Trump that he didn't know about the fake electors scheme. He also played a role in transporting the fake certificates from Wisconsin to the Capitol (he is from Wisconsin).
  
  
• Powell: When prosecutors pressed Powell about why Trump was listening to her and not the White House counsel and other official lawyers she said: "Because we were the only ones willing to support his effort to sustain the White House. I mean, everybody else was telling him to pack up and go." In other words, Powell can testify that Trump knew from the White House counsel's office and others that he lost and it was over. With his own official lawyers telling him it was over, it will be much harder for him to claim: "I really thought I won."
  
  
• Hall: He claimed that his visit to Coffee County, where the election equipment was breached, was merely that of a "political tourist." He was expecting to be reimbursed for $10,000 for the private jet travel there and wasn't. He's angry about that. His testimony may not be terribly useful, except that he can finger whoever sent him there (maybe Rudy Giuliani?). That part could be useful to the prosecutors. He also said that codefendant Robert Cheeley asked him to find Ruby Freeman after she went into hiding after Giuliani attacked her and accused her of stuffing the ballot box. He is a bail bondsman by trade and they are used to trying to catch people who jump bail and are hiding somewhere. His testimony could put Cheeley under pressure to flip and tell who put him up to asking Hall to find Freeman (again, maybe Giuliani?).
  

There's more and parts of the recordings were inaudible. No doubt Fulton County DA has long had the originals transcribed and has the transcripts. Also, all the guilty parties know there were multiple witnesses in the room when they told their stories, so it is very unlikely any one of them will reflip in court. (V)