- Newly-released testimony could bolster Georgia’s prosecution of former president on election interference charges.
- Statements come after several witnesses take plea deals in sprawling election conspiracy case.
WASHINGTON — At a White House Christmas party following Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election, a top aide to the then-president said his boss wouldn’t be leaving office no matter the election result, according to testimony provided to Georgia prosecutors.
“The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances,” Dan Scavino said to Jenna Ellis, according to portions of her filmed testimony that were obtained by ABC News. “We are just going to stay in power.”
Ellis provided the testimony as part of a deal with prosecutors in which she pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings, and agreed to testify against defendants in the sprawling Georgia election interference case. Prosecutors originally charged 19 people with participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
How do comments from Dan Scavino to Jenna Ellis impact the Georgia election case against Trump?
Despite the incendiary nature of the comments about Trump leaving office after losing, an attorney for Trump dismissed their relevance to Georgia case.
“Any purported private conversation is absolutely meaningless,” said Steve Sadow, an attorney for Donald Trump, in a statement provided to USA TODAY. ”The only salient and telling fact is that President Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021 and returned to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.”
An attorney for Scavino, who was a senior official in the White House at the time of the alleged statement, declined to comment.
The case was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has charged Trump and others with participating in a broad conspiracy to overturn the election results.
Several defendants have now taken plea deals that included an agreement to testify for the state, including three lawyers: Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro.
Video release ‘intended to intimidate,’ prosecutor says
After the video clips were published, Willis renewed a request for the Superior Court of Fulton County to seal materials in the case, stating that her office hadn’t released the recordings to anyone except the defendants.
“The release of these confidential video recordings is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial, constitutes indirect communication about the facts of this case with codefendants and witnesses, and obstructs the administration of justice, in violation of the conditions of release imposed on each defendant,” Willis said in the motion.
Willis vowed not to hand over video recordings of the testimony provided under the plea deals going forward, saying defendants would need to come to her office to view them.
The court should temporarily prohibit disclosure of case materials provided as part of the discovery process between the parties, schedule an emergency hearing on the issue, and then make that prohibition permanent, Willis urged.