News broke last week that lawyer Sidney Powell, who promoted wild conspiracy theories in support of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, had pleaded guilty and agreed to testify …

Sidney Powell has agreed to plea guilty for her efforts to overturn the 2020 election, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to flip on Trump.

  • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
    163·
    1 year ago

    She has to testify truthfully under oath, but I don’t think it covers what she says otherwise? She may be trying to keep the mob from turning on her in the meantime.

    I feel like Powell is a “true believer.” She’s convinced that she was right to break the law even if she admits to doing it.

    • kmartburrito@lemmy.world
      8·
      1 year ago

      I believe the judge will have some limits set on what she can say, and she won’t be able to talk about details of the case. Those fine details likely will never be unsealed, however outside of the limits placed on her as part of her plea deal she will be able to lie like the scum she is. So to a degree I think we’re both right, that line being an unknown.

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
        5·
        1 year ago

        I believe the judge will have some limits set on what she can say, and she won’t be able to talk about details of the case.

        I dunno - the deal is with the prosecution not the judge if I understand correctly… And judges can’t limit speech arbitrarily as people are finding out with Trump’s gag orders. I suppose we’ll find out soon though. If she has violated any court order she’ll likely be pulled back in to face the judge.

          • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
            1·
            1 year ago

            That doesn’t sound right… According to Cornell:

            In some jurisdictions, prosecutors and defendants can work with judges to predetermine what sentence the defendants will get if the defendants accept plea bargains. In most jurisdictions, however, judges’ role in plea bargaining is limited. For example, federal judges retain final authority over sentencing decisions, and are not bound by prosecutors’ recommendations, even if the recommendations are part of plea bargains.

            So the court can still sentence the party pleading guilty as they like but it sounds like they don’t typically have anything to do with the plea deal itself.

            They also play a role in enforcement:

            Courts treat plea bargains as contracts between prosecutors and defendants. A defendant breaking a plea bargain is akin to a breach of contract, which will result in the prosecutor no longer being bound by his or her obligation in the plea deal.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
      92·
      1 year ago

      I don’t think it covers what she says otherwise?

      For better or worse, she has a free speech right to lie in public (up to the point of violating someone’s rights). She can say what she wants outside of the courtroom, apart from what limits the judge has set.

      But once she’s in front of that judge, she’d better be truthful, because if she took a plea bargain, she knows prosecution has some good evidence against her and won’t be afraid to point out any lies.

    • buddhabound@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      1 year ago

      The reporting that I heard on her plea last week said that she was not to talk about the case to the media, other witnesses, or indicted co-conspirators.

    • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
      42·
      1 year ago

      The point is that, if she lies where it counts, under oath, her prosecutors have more than enough evidence to slam her with enough counts of perjury to last the rest of her life.