US judiciary
Georgia: Trump’s co-defendant pleads guilty
Donald Trump is facing criminal charges in the US state of Georgia. photo
© Jae C. Hong/AP/dpa
Former US President Donald Trump is charged in the US state of Georgia along with 18 other defendants. Now one of the co-defendants has pleaded guilty.
One of the co-defendants in the trial against former US President Donald Trump in the US state Georgia has pleaded guilty to several charges.
This makes 59-year-old Scott Hall the first defendant in the case to agree to a so-called plea deal with the public prosecutor – i.e. an agreement with the prosecution. In exchange for Friday’s guilty plea, prosecutors are seeking a five-year suspended sentence, court documents show.
Guilty plea matters
Hall is accused of unlawfully gaining access to data at an election office. Hall is not one of the particularly important players in the proceedings. His guilty plea is still important – it marks a success for prosecutor Fani Willis. In Georgia, Trump is facing charges along with 18 other defendants over his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
Trump lost the election against Democrat Joe Biden, including in Georgia. But to this day he refuses to admit defeat. Instead, Trump claims he was deprived of a victory by massive voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere. After the 2020 election, the Republican tried in various ways to subsequently change the election results – including by putting pressure on political leaders at the federal level and in states such as Georgia.