Bail bondsman Scott Hall becomes first Donald Trump co-defendant to plead guilty in the Georgia election case

A bail bondsman has become the first of Donald Trump’s 18 co-defendants to take a plea deal in a surprising development in the Georgia election interference case.

Scott Hall, 59, pleaded guilty Friday to five felony counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with the performance of electoral duties.

He struck a deal with District Attorney Fani Willis to serve five years of probation after being indicted last month.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee also fined him $1,000 on each charge.

Hall was accused of unlawfully breaching voting machine information in Coffee County, Georgia, in an attempt to access voter data as Trump allies alleged massive voter fraud.

The alleged crime occurred just a day after the Capitol riot.

The no-jail deal raises the prospect that Willis could get testimony from Hall as she pursues other defendants in the alleged conspiracy, which according to a lengthy indictment extends all the way to former President Donald Trump and some of his top advisers in his bid to win the election Undo.

Several people charged in the alleged conspiracy have already tried to dismiss their own cases or take the prosecution to federal court, as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has done.

Hall is described as taking part in key episodes detailed in the Grant Jury indictment released last month.

His relatively minor role occurred when a Republican Party official called Hall seeking help with an errand.

Scott Hall with Donald Trump – Hall became the first of Trump’s co-conspirators to surrender to authorities in Atlanta

The indictment cited a Nov. 20 email that said Hall “investigated the election on behalf of the President at the request of David Bossie,” a key Trump adviser.

According to the indictment, Hall spoke with former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark for more than an hour amid the effort to overturn the case.

Hall called her back hours later. What they were talking about, according to prosecutors, was a scheme to access voting machines in rural Coffee County, Georgia, to support “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell’s wild claims of massive election fraud in the 2020 election.

Powell also faces charges and, like others, has pleaded not guilty.

It was not part of any law enforcement investigation or an official investigation or recount such as that conducted by election officials in Georgia. It was, prosecutors said in a stunning indictment charging a 161-act conspiracy, an “unlawful violation of election equipment.”

The official, Cathy Latham, along with the company’s chief operating officer, called a forensic data company to arrange transportation from the airport.

The next day, January 7, as repair crews were still fixing broken windows in the Capitol following a riot, Hall was soon joined by another official – now known only as “Individual 24” – to participate in what prosecutors ‘extortion activities’. and an ‘overt act’ in a complex conspiracy.

They went to the Coffee County Board of Elections. Elections Director Misty Hampton was there as a computer forensics team copied data and software from voting machines and equipment around the county.

Collectively, these steps were part of multiple actions outlined in Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ sweeping indictment, which accuses Trump, senior attorneys including Powell and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and low-level accomplices of carrying out of a coordinated conspiracy.

Their actions constituted a “criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn the results of the presidential election in Georgia,” she said.

Hall testified before the special grand jury that first investigated the events. His presence was captured on surveillance footage.

He was charged with a total of seven counts, including election fraud and conspiracy to commit computer theft, as well as violating the state’s RICO statute.

The indictment cited a Nov. 20 email that said Hall “investigated the election on behalf of the President at the request of David Bossie,” a key Trump adviser. It called the contact an “overt act” of the conspiracy.

It also details a Jan. 2, 2021, phone conversation between Hall and former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark lasting more than an hour.