Sidney Powell pleads not guilty in Georgia election interference case

Sidney Powell, a one-time attorney for former President Trump’s 2020 campaign who helped promulgate false claims of election fraud, has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia election interference case.

Powell and 18 others — including Trump — are accused of joining a criminal conspiracy to keep the former president in power after he lost the 2020 presidential race by overturning the state’s election results. She faces seven charges, among them violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act — a charge designed to target organized crime of which all the defendants are accused.

The Trump lawyer’s other charges stem from a Coffee County election equipment breach. They include conspiracy to commit election fraud, a series of computer crimes and conspiracy to defraud the state, which is described as theft of data because voter data is “property which was under the control of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.”

Powell waived her right to an arraignment in a Tuesday court filing. The proceeding, where she would have formally heard the charges she faces and entered a plea, was set to take place Sept. 6, the same day as the other defendants.

She’s not the first to enter a not guilty plea in the sweeping case. Ray Smith, a Georgia-based attorney who worked for Trump, waived his arraignment and entered a not guilty plea in writing Monday, court filings show. Smith is accused of 12 counts in the indictment, including the racketeering charge.

The other defendants, who are set to be arraigned next week, could follow Smith and Powell’s lead and avoid entering a televised guilty plea after a judge approved cameras in the Fulton County courtroom.

Earlier this week, Powell became the second defendant to request a speedy trial — a move significantly hastening her case. Kenneth Chesebro, the attorney who drafted the fake electors memo, was the first to request a speedy trial and is now facing an Oct. 23 trial date.

Powell was a key surrogate of Trump’s false election fraud claims after the 2020 election, vowing to “release the Kraken” of supposed wrongdoing. She surrendered at the Fulton County jail last week and was released on a $100,000 bond.

Updated at 2:49 p.m. ET