The next big name to flip on Donald Trump
Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro just flipped on Donald Trump on consecutive days, the first time Trump has suffered that particular ignominy. But they’re far from the first people to flip on Trump. They’re actually the tenth and eleventh people to flip on Trump in Fulton County alone, if you count the fake electors who flipped before they could be indicted. But who’s going to be the next to flip on Trump?
What’s interesting is that, after two fairly big names flipped in a row (Powell has long been at the center of things and Chesebro more recently emerged as a big player), the next candidates to flip are also fairly big names. We’re at that stage now.
Powell’s plea deal appears to sink Rudy Giuliani, while Chesebro’s plea deal appears to sink Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, and Mark Meadows. But how many of them are realistic candidates for deals?
Giuliani is probably the most screwed of the bunch (and seemingly the least able to mount a trial defense). But he’s also incoherently senile, so he’d be useless as a witness. Instead Rudy would need to be sitting on the kind of evidence against Trump that’s so compelling, it doesn’t matter if Rudy is too far gone to take the stand.
After Meadows tried to get his case moved to federal court and got caught lying under oath during the hearing, he may not be able to get a deal at all. He’s made himself worthless as a witness. If he decided to flip now, Willis might not be willing to give him much leniency.
John Eastman seems like too much of a conspiracy theorist whack job to get a favorable cooperation deal. But a lot of people thought the same thing about Sidney Powell, and she managed to get a good deal. There’s always the question of whether these types are actual whack jobs or are just putting on a show in public. With Eastman, who knows?
Then there’s Jenna Ellis. She keeps publicly complaining about Donald Trump’s unwillingness to pay her legal bills, which is usually a sign that someone is more than willing to flip. So if we were forced to bet, we’d guess that Ellis might be the most likely of the bunch to flip next.
But remember, these are very emotional and personal decisions for these people. You don’t have to feel sorry for them; they did it to themselves. But these are decisions that will severely impact the rest of their lives. So the decision, and particularly the timing, doesn’t always correlate to what logic would dictate.
In any case, the clock is ticking. Powell and Chesebro both managed to land cushy deals consisting of several years of probation and no prison. But now that DA Fani Willis has two big time cooperators, she doesn’t need to keep handing out get out of jail free cards. Going forward, each person who cuts a deal will get a less lenient deal than the person before. Anyone who wants to avoid prison should be knocking on Willis’ door today, not tomorrow, and seeking a deal.
