Trump decides to weigh in heavily on Georgia court: analysis

The report was obtained thanks to the election watchdog group Coalition for Good Governance, which obtained the documents. Powell, who pleaded guilty last week as part of the deal, will receive six years probation but will not go to prison. She faced up to 20 years in prison. Trump has since claimed she never worked for him.

A computer forensics expertCoalitoin for Good Governance confirmed that the Coffey County election server was hacked. "The chairman of the Georgia State Board of Elections at the time, a former federal judge named William Duffy, repeatedly insisted that the FBI intervene. But the agency referred the case to the state police despite its limited resources and inability to cross state lines." A year after the Coffey County GBI investigation began, Powell and 18 other related defendants were named in a racketeering lawsuit by Fulton County District Attorney Fanie Willis.

The revelations include that when Powell joined retired Gen. Michael Flynn on the property of Lyn Wood, CEO of Cyber Ninjas, who supported Trump, Doug Logan met with them there. Arizona later hired Cyber Ninjas to do its due diligence, but it was not known at the time that the CEO was cooperating with those trying to subvert the 2020 election. Cyber Ninjas has now ceased to exist. Jim Penrose, who previously worked as an analyst at the National Security Agency (NSA), was also there. As stated in the GBI report, Wood's "plantation" is described as a "central hub for processing information on election fraud." On November 24, 2020, Wood tweeted, "I've been working closely with @SidneyPowell and others in recent weeks. The lawsuit that Sidney will file tomorrow in Georgia speaks the truth." Now Wood tells a different story, claiming that he revealed all of Willis' information as a witness in her investigation. He released the information on his Telegram channel last week, saying he did not work with them.

"Shortly after the Tomotley meetings began, Powell hired a data processing firm called SullivanStrickler," the report said. "The firm claims to be 'politically independent' and has not been indicted, but at least one of its top employees has been a vociferous election denier." He quotes the head of the firm's response to a question on the Quora website, "Why does the vote counting process for the 2020 U.S. election take days?" In his response, he writes, "Quality fraud takes time." A Clark County, Nevada, judge allowed the company to inspect election equipment and programs after a Trump-supporting attorney filed another election lawsuit. They then traveled to Antrim County, Michigan, where another judge allowed Trump's lawyers to look at a forensic image of election tabulators.

Despite the judge's prohibition against sharing any data, the chief operating officer, Paul Maggio, wrote an email to Powell and Penrose on Dec. 6, 2020, saying Trump supporters could download the data after receiving payment.

Powell was asked to pay SullivanStrickler's bill. The GBI report states that SullivanStrickler "failed to conduct any independent review to ensure the legality of its work." According to a company executive, "most of SullivanStrickler's clients are attorneys who are officers of the court, and therefore the affirmation in the agreement of the appropriate authority for the proposed work was acceptable." They put the responsibility on Powell as a client to make sure they were following the law.

"Had Powell done her due diligence as required in the contract she signed with SullivanStrickler, she would have known that Georgia's administrative code explicitly prohibits unauthorized persons other than election officials from entering premises where election management systems or election equipment are stored," according to The New Yorker article. Misty Hampton, who is one of 19 defendant co-conspirators, approved an Atlanta attorney's request for information about the penpal vote. According to The New Yorker, this prompted the arrival of SullivanStrickler.

"Things are starting to come together! First of all, we've been granted access - by written invitation! - to Coffee County systems. Yay! Now gathering details," Trump attorney Kathryn Friess wrote in a Signal group chat, which included a member of SullivanStrickler's team.

The GBI report says Hampton's "endorsement" was illegal because there was no formal invitation "generated or coordinated by Coffey County officials granting access to their election equipment. "

"At the request of Jim Penrose, we are traveling to Coffey County to collect what we can from election machines and systems," wrote SullivanStrickler Chief Operating Officer Powell.

The New Yorker quotes former federal prosecutor John Q. Carroll, who has handled racketeering cases in New York, saying, "If Powell wrote the check without knowing the scheme was illegal, that would be a good defense. If she knew about the scheme, that's an incredibly burdensome fact.... Even the getaway driver is guilty of bank robbery." That's exactly how Powell was left holding the bag, so to speak.

Donald Trump now claims he never hired Powell.