Jenna Ellis smiled in her mugshot. The former Trump attorney who was indicted alongside him and 17 others over an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results even made the Fulton County booking photo her profile picture on Twitter. “Those who mock me, my former client, and my God want to see me break and they aren’t going to get that satisfaction,” she told The New York Times in August.
On Tuesday, through tears, Jenna Ellis accepted a plea deal from Georgia prosecutors. Five years probation and some community service in exchange for her truthful testimony against her co-defendants. While Ellis’ role in the upcoming trial remains an open-ended question, something else looms over her decision to flip on her former allies: the $216,431 crowdsourced by friends and Trump supporters to fund her legal defense.
Doubtful. The money is likely considered a gift, so there’s no implied contract where the donors would get anything in return.
One could argue fraud, but I think that would have to come with intent. A reasonable person could conclude that her intent when she was collecting the money was to prepare for a long and difficult legal battle which appeared to be a highly likely situation.
I don’t believe the donors are given any expectation that they would receive back money that was not used. The only place that might be conveyed would be the Terms of Service on whatever site she used if she used something like gofundme. If the terms say that money must be returned under certain circumstances, then I could see legitimate legal standing. But if she set up her own website where she could put her own fine print in? They’re out of luck.
The lesson is to be more judicious with your money. If you don’t like what someone does with your money after you give it to them, then make better decisions about who you give your money to.