Arizona prosecutors will drop nine felony charges against Donald Trump’s former attorney Jenna Ellis in exchange for her cooperation in a sweeping election interference case in the state.
Ellis, who reached a plea deal with prosecutors in Georgia in a similar case last year, was also among 18 defendants in an investigation into a Republican-backed plan to subvert Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Arizona and deliver the state’s 11 electoral college votes to Trump instead.
“This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement on Monday.
“I am grateful to Ms Ellis for her cooperation with our investigation and prosecution. Her insights are invaluable and will greatly aid the State in proving its case in court,” Mayes added. “As I stated when the initial charges were announced, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined — it is far too important. Today’s announcement is a win for the rule of law.”
Ellis has also agreed to “completely and truthfully” testify in any future trials, according to the agreement.
That testimony could be crucial in the case against Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who prosecutors have linked to several critical moments surrounding a spurious effort to overturn the state’s election results as part of a nationwide campaign to reverse Trump’s loss in swing states that Biden won.
According to prosecutors, Ellis joined Giuliani to Phoenix for a meeting to share false claims about election fraud, as Trump himself dialed in to speak.
Ellis also joined Giuliani for a meeting with then-Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who would go on to testify to the House select committee investigating events surrounding January 6. In that testimony, Bowers claimed that Giuliani had pushed him to overturn Trump’s 10,457-vote defeat in the state.
Defendants in the case include former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, a former state GOP chair, two sitting state lawmakers, and a former US Senate candidate.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
Arizona is among four states where prosecutors have filed criminal charges against so-called fake electors and others used false claims about voter fraud to promote an effort to throw out results.
In June, a judge in Nevada dismissed the state’s case against six fake electors on procedural grounds, marking the first time that a case related to the Trump campaign’s efforts to reject results had been dismissed.
Similar cases are underway in Michigan and Wisconsin, while another case in Georgia is hung up on appeals to determine whether the chief prosecutor — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — should be disqualified.