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When Donald Trump was indicted in Fulton County, it was a dramatic development, but the former president wasn’t the only one charged in the election interference case. On the contrary, the Republican was one of 19 co-defendants.
As the cases have proceeded, the entire list of those charged were pleading not guilty. Today, as NBC News reported, that changed.
Scott Hall, one of the 18 defendants charged along with former President Donald Trump for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, pleaded guilty to the charges against him Friday. Hall is the first defendant to enter a plea in the case.
It’s probably fair to say that Hall does not have a household name, but as the original Fulton County indictment made clear, he’s a local bail bondsman. As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, he was indicted “in connection with the breach of sensitive voting data in Coffee County in South Georgia. He had been charged with racketeering and six counts of conspiracy.”
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Hall has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state.
As NBC News’ report added, “Under the terms of the deal, he’s being sentenced to five years probation, and agreed to ‘testify truthfully in this case and all further proceedings.’”
It’s that last point that’s of particular interest given the larger set of circumstances. If Hall agrees to start cooperating with prosecutors as part of his plea agreement — if, in other words, he’s “flipped” — then it opens the door to possible new information that might be used against other defendants.
Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and an MSNBC legal analyst, noted in response to the news that Hall and Sidney Powell were allegedly “in the thick of things” regarding “a Coffee County scheme involving voting machines.” With this in mind, Vance concluded that if Hall is now cooperating, it could be "a bad sign" for the controversial attorney.
Barb McQuade, another former federal prosecutor who's also an MSNBC legal analyst, was thinking along the same lines. "The dominoes are beginning to fall," the University of Michigan law professor wrote.
As for the larger context, I’m reminded of a Fox News interview Donald Trump did during the second year of his presidency, against a backdrop of assorted legal difficulties.
“I know all about flipping,” the Republican said in August 2018. “For 30, 40 years I have been watching flippers. ... It’s called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal.”
The then-president added that the practice of prosecutors securing testimony as part of a plea agreement “almost ought to be outlawed,” because “it’s not fair.”
Fortunately for law enforcement, the standard practice has not been outlawed, and as is clear in Fulton County, it is still being put to use.
Read Hall's waiver of indictment below: