Jenna Ellis trashed over defense fund revelation

Jenna Ellis, a former Donald Trump attorney who has pleaded guilty to a felony count in the Georgia 2020 election interference case, has been criticized regarding the apparent cost of her legal fees.

Ellis, who served as Trump’s lawyer during the 2020 presidential campaign, pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings on October 24 after getting indicted alongside the former president and 17 others in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis‘ sprawling racketeering case. Trump has pleaded not guilty and has consistently denied wrongdoing in the case.

Prior to her guilty plea, Ellis had raised more than $217,000 in online donations to cover her legal fees after realizing the costs would not be covered by Trump. Ellis then faced calls for her to return the money, which was raised via a GiveSendGo page created by her lawyer, Michael Melito, after she became the fourth defendant to enter into a plea deal in the Georgia interference case before they went to trial.

On Saturday, Ellis thanked her supporters who had “helped me with prayers and support” while she faced charges in Georgia, while also sharing a statement from Melito, which aimed to “answer a question that has been raised” regarding the funds to support her legal defense.

“The legal fees and costs significantly exceeded the amount raised by the fund,” Melito said. “Thank you for your continued support.”

The claim was doubted by some legal experts and met with anger from Trump supporters on X, formerly Twitter, who questioned how Ellis’ legal fees were so high.

Colorado-based trial attorney Craig Silverman posted on X: “No fast guilty plea should ever cost this much. Jenna Ellis did not litigate any motions. How hard can it be to take a ‘no jail’ plea deal? Over 200K? No way.”

X user Craig Voss, who has a photo of Trump as his profile, wrote in reply to Ellis: “‘Jenna’s legal fees and costs significantly exceeded the amount raised by the fund.’ What an absolute joke.”

Fellow X user Heather Carlile, who also has a picture of Trump for her profile, added: “Post the bills (detailed) this is absurd.”

Author and scientist Jonathan Sarfati wrote: “I do have a question for Michael Melito of Melito Law LLC: why were the legal fees so much more than the money raised by the fund? It seems like the only winners in the current American (In)Justice system are the lawyers. This means they have little incentive to fight to change.”

Another X user wrote in reply to Ellis: “So Jenna Ellis pleads guilty, which means she was guilty of what she did, yet got others to pay for her legal fees? What happened to personal responsibility? Is she on welfare now?”

Conservative pundit Carmine Sabia was one of those to defend the amount that Ellis and her legal team said they needed to fight her case.

“It is astounding that some people think in a RICO case that making a plea deal means you did not have massive legal debts,” Sabia posted on X.

Newsweek has contacted Ellis’ legal team for comment via email.

Ellis became the fourth person to plead guilty in Willis’ investigation, following similar deals struck with Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro just days before their trials were due to begin. In late September, bail bondsman Scott Hall admitted to charges relating to a voting system breach in Georgia’s Coffee County in 2021.

While appearing at the court in Fulton County to plead guilty, Ellis expressed “remorse” for being part of the attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of Trump.

“I failed to do my due diligence,” Ellis said. “I believe in and I value election integrity.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges. I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.”