Trump's Niece Says 'Trial Heats Up' As Scott Hall Flips In 2020 Election Interference Case — Why Legal Experts Say It's 'Bad News' For Co-defendants By Benzinga

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Trump's Niece Says 'Trial Heats Up' As Scott Hall Flips In 2020 Election Interference Case — Why Legal Experts Say It's 'Bad News' For Co-defendants

Published Sep 30, 2023 16:19 Updated Sep 30, 2023 17:40

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Trump's Niece Says 'Trial Heats Up' As Scott Hall Flips In 2020 Election Interference Case — Why Legal Experts Say It's 'Bad News' For Co-defendants

Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.

In a major setback to Donald Trump, Scott Hall, one of the 18 co-defendant’s charged along with the former president for alleged interference in the Georgia elections in 2020, pleaded guilty on Friday. Mary Trump, the niece of the former president and a psychologist, weighed in on the development.

What Happened: “I think as the trial heats up, we’ll hear much more frequently one of Donald’s least favorite words … Cooperation,” she said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.

Hall pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges and will be sentenced to five years of probation, provided that he adheres to the terms of the deal. More importantly, he has agreed to testify in related court hearings and trials linked to the case.

Legal Experts React: “That spells bad news for, among others, Sidney Powell,” said New York University law professor and former special counsel Ryan Goodman said in a post on X.

“It looks like Scott Hall – now cooperating with the Fulton County, DA – will also be able to provide the prosecutors and jury with some important insights into the conduct of Trump co-defendant Jeffrey Clark,” he added.

Goodman also noted that even if Donald Trump had directed Clark to write a letter to Georgia officials (and others) to press them to overturn vote, the letter would have been beyond the scope of DOJ authority or otherwise unlawful.

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig also weighed in on the development on the “The Lead with Jake Tapper” program and said the guilty plea was "definitely a win for the Fulton Count District Attorney.”

“When you charge 19 defendants at once, this is what happens: They start taking care of their own interest, they start taking pleas, they start turning on each other,” he said. The person who needs to be even more worried now is Powell, he said, adding that Hall was charged in the scheme to access voting equipment.

“Sidney Powell is also charged in that count. So if he [Hall] is providing testimony, then she is going to be implicated,” Honig said.

Meanwhile, former DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said on X, “Unlike in federal court; the plea and sentence happen all at once, and no public statement by the defendant on the record as to what he did.”

“But he clearly may be a witness against Powell and others re the Coffey County election charges.”

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