Trump Claims Sidney Powell ‘Never Was’ His Attorney After Plea Deal Despite Public Record Showing Otherwise

Donald Trump appeared to distance himself on Sunday from attorney Sidney Powell in a post on his social media platform despite a well-documented public record that shows the two were closely connected during several events amid the chaotic 2020 election at the center of two of the former president's criminal indictments.

"Despite the Fake News reports to the contrary, and without even reaching out to ask the Trump Campaign, MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS," Trump wrote.

Trump's efforts to detach himself from Powell came a few days after she accepted a plea deal on the eve of the election fraud trial she would have faced in Georgia.

In Fulton County, District Attorney Fani Willis originally charged Powell alongside the former president and 17 others with attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Powell is also widely understood to match the description of an unindicted co-conspirator in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s four-count indictment of Trump for alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Her decision to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors spells trouble for Trump, who faces a litany of legal woes from Georgia and federal prospecutors. Fellow co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro agreed on Friday to a separate plea deal with Fulton County prosecutors.

Trump's insistence Powell wasn't his lawyer runs counter to a number of events. On Nov. 14, 2020, then-President Trump posted a tweet naming her to his personal legal team tasked with challenging election results in several states. On Nov. 19, 2020, Giuliani, Powell and Jenna Ellis conducted a press conference at Republican National Committee headquarters on Trump's behalf where they insisted there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Powell also filed lawsuits challenging election results in Arizona.

Trump's campaign a few days after the RNC press conference disassociated itself from Powell.

But Powell remained a central figure inside the Trump arena as he continued to mount efforts to overturn the 2020 results. She attended an Oval Office meeting on Dec. 18, 2020, with Giuliani that's mentioned as one of the overt acts in the Georgia criminal charges. There, they discussed seizing voting machines in the state and potentially naming Powell as a special counsel to investigate voter fraud.

White House attorneys opposed Powell's appointment, which never got made, according to the final report from the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Powell also asserted "attorney-client" privilege during a May 2022 deposition when asked by House counsel to explain how she knew President Trump.