Joyce Vance writes about deal making in the Georgia election case -- in particular, one Scott Hall, who just received a plea deal and cooperation agreement. What did he give up? Via MSNBC:
One of the questions that should be keeping former President Donald Trump up at night is who among his co-defendants in Georgia will flip and testify against him. So far, only one of Trump’s 18 co-defendants has pled guilty: politically well-connected Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall, whose brother-in-law was Trump’s deputy campaign manager in 2016. To date, Hall is the only Trump co-defendant whose plea deal and cooperation agreement with prosecutors is public. (They have agreed to dismiss some of the charges and recommend a reduced sentence of five years’ probation). But there could be others coming.
Reporting from earlier in October confirms that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis offered cooperation agreements to an unspecified number of other co-defendants in the case, all of whom will have to decide whether a deal like the one Hall received is a better option than going to trial. There are only so many sweetheart deals to go around; prosecutors' need for witnesses on any given point is limited. And typically, those defendants who are “first in” get the best deals.
As Vance notes, there are only so many deals to go around. At a certain point, prosecutors don't need more witnesses to prove a specific point.
Hall's deal is very good, meaning he must be giving prosecutors something very good in return. For example, he may have to testify against a co-defendant, and Powell is the most likely target — they were both charged in connection with the alleged plot to access voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, on Jan. 7, 2021. Does Powell want to run the risk a sentence of five to 20 years in a Georgia state prison? Or might she decide it’s time to cut her losses and testify to what she knows about Trump?
Anyone who continues to lie for Trump is in a truly unthinkable position: retaining a criminal attorney may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. And if you're waiting for another Trump term and a subsequent pardon, well, good luck with that. With Trump, loyalty is a one-way street.
