Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis has pleaded guilty to intentionally interfering in the election process in the state of Georgia.

On Tuesday, Ellis’ attorneys informed Judge Scott McAfee that Ellis intended to plead guilty to aiding and abetting false statements in writing, and both were present in a courtroom hearing where a teary-eyed Ellis, 38, read from a prepared typed statement admitting her fault.

‘As an attorney who is also a Christian, I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously and I endeavor to be a person of sound moral and ethical character in all my dealings,’ Ellis said in the courtroom. ‘In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, I believed that challenging the results on behalf of President Trump should be pursued in a just and legal way.’

‘I endeavored to represent my client to the best of my ability,’ she continued, saying she worked closely with other lawyers who provided her with information that she then told the media. ‘What I did not do, but I should, was make sure the facts that the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true. In the frenetic pace of attempting to raise challenges to the election in several states, including Georgia, I failed to do my due diligence.’

She was charged with and subsequently pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. It carries a minimum of one year in prison.

As part of the plea deal, Ellis will have to serve five years probation and pay $5,000 in restitution to the Georgia Secretary of State within 30 days.

She will also have to complete 100 hours of community service, write an apology letter to voters in the state of Georgia and testify truthfully in future hearings regarding ongoing cases.

Ellis is also not allowed to post anything on social media about her case until the conclusion of all cases about election inference.

In lieu of ongoing cases, she must fully cooperate with prosecutors in interviews and evidentiary hearings as well as assisting in pre-trial matters.

She also asked the court to be tried as a first-time offender.

The race for the speaker’s gavel continues as House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who announced his candidacy Friday, has secured the GOP nomination.

The majority whip won the nomination in a closed-door House Republican conference meeting Tuesday after multiple rounds of voting. More than half a dozen Republicans put their names forward as candidates for the speaker’s gavel.

In the final tally to decide the nominee, Emmer took 117 votes, securing the GOP nomination for the speaker’s gavel.

Emmer’s nomination comes after he scored a major endorsement from ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted three weeks ago by eight Republicans voting with House Democrats.

It’s unclear whether Emmer will succeed where Jordan and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., failed — convincing the various factions within the GOP to unite around his leadership.

‘He is the right person for the job. He can unite the conference,’ McCarthy said. ‘He understands the dynamics of the conference. He also understands what it takes to win and keep a majority.’

‘Our Conference remains at a crossroads, and the deck is stacked against us. We have no choice but to fight like hell to hold on to our House majority and deliver on our conservative agenda,’ Emmer told Republican members of Congress in a letter Saturday about his bid for the speaker’s gavel.

Emmer said he would use teamwork, communication and respect to build on the success Republicans had taking back the House majority in 2022 and scoring legislative wins.

Allies of Emmer also pointed to his ability as a fundraiser. Emmer brought in $9.2 million for House races in the 2022 election cycle, including more than $4.8 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which he led at the time. Emmer has raised $7.6 million so far in 2023 for the 2024 election cycle.

Emmer faces a potential roadblock to his nomination from the hard-right side of the Republican caucus. Some reports have indicated former President Trump — who endorsed Jordan for speaker — is whipping members against voting for Emmer. It is unclear how this would affect the House speaker race.

Emmer is an attorney, former hockey player and coach, a father of seven and the No. 3 GOP lawmaker in the House this Congress.

He assumed the whip position from Steve Scalise, R-La., now the House majority leader — who also happened to be the GOP speaker nominee before Jordan.

Holding the position after leading the NRCC in the last election cycle, Emmer says he is a ‘team guy’ from a ‘big hockey factory.’

The House majority whip said he learned to negotiate through his work as an attorney, but starting a youth hockey team in Delano, Minnesota, in the 1990s is where he cut his teeth in the art of getting people to work together.

‘And we literally started because I recognized you’ve got all these competing entities, much like you have in Congress,’ Emmer said. ‘I had to become a member of the local Youth Hockey board. Then I had to become a member of the board that ran the ice arena, so we could control our own ice time.

‘Then I had to become a member of the District Hockey Board that was in charge of the region that our community was part of. Then I had to become part of … Minnesota Hockey, which is under the umbrella of USA Hockey. Why? Because we had to get them all talking to each other.’

Thirty years later, Emmer said, the program in the town that ‘was not recognized in the sport at all’ is consistently making state championships.

The House majority whip was first bitten by the political bug in the early 1990s when Emmer, an attorney at the time, and wife Jackie were living in an old converted country hotel with ‘200-year-old’ oak and maple trees in the front yard. The local public works team marked trees to be removed for a new road the next day.

The whip said his wife was ‘devastated’ by the development because you ‘just don’t get stuff like that in town,’ and Emmer called the mayor, a farmer, who drove to the congressman’s property at 10 p.m. ‘in his old, beat-up Cadillac Fleetwood’ and put his lights on the trees.

The mayor whipped out his cellphone and called the head of public works to save the trees by moving the road 80 feet into the farm field.

‘And after he did that, I was like, ‘Oh, well, this is the way it works,’ because the next thing that came was a sewer line that I didn’t need,’ Emmer said. ‘We had two acres, we had a young family and I was getting assessed tens of thousands of dollars for a sewer that I didn’t need and I didn’t want.

‘And that’s literally what got me involved running.’

Emmer’s candidacy comes after Jordan failed in his third bid for the speaker’s gavel.

House Republicans are starting from scratch to select a new candidate for speaker after Jordan was voted out of the race.

A deep roster of Republicans emerged as potential candidates to lead the House immediately after a closed-door House GOP vote on whether to keep Jordan as speaker designate.

Republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors Monday evening for a candidate forum before a conference-wide election via secret anonymous ballot on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.

House Republicans are feeling the pressure of needing to elect a new speaker after weeks of congressional paralysis – but whether there will be one this week remains to be seen, several of them said.

‘Fifty-fifty would be my prediction,’ Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital on Monday night. ‘It seems like there’s less emotion in the room. There’s less stubbornness, there’s more reasonability.’

GOP lawmakers held a speaker candidate forum on Monday evening ahead of a conference-wide vote on their next nominee for the gavel. It’s their third time in three weeks hosting such an event, and Tuesday will mark three weeks since ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio – two of the highest-profile House Republicans after McCarthy – were both forced out of the race because they were unable to win over the 217 Republicans needed for victory.

CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE 

While some GOP lawmakers left the room with optimism on Monday, others were hesitant to say the political spectacle is enough to unite a heavily fractured Republican conference.

‘I want there to be one. I have no idea, because there’s 221 individuals in this place that have been here for a long time and have their own thoughts on what the priorities should be,’ Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, who did not support Jordan, told Fox News Digital. 

Meanwhile, Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, R-Texas, suggested that no one can make a conclusion right now on what will happen Tuesday but said ‘hopefully’ a speaker is finally chosen.

‘I’m confident with you we will. If we haven’t, you ask me that question for…the following week,’ Williams said. ‘We’re going through the process, and we’ll see. Hopefully, we can come out with somebody tomorrow and get on the floor with it. But we’ll see.’

House Republicans were originally set to hear from nine different candidates for speaker. One of them, Rep. Dan Meuser, left shortly after opening speeches concluded and told reporters he was dropping out of the race. ‘I felt that it was in the best interest in the end. I came in late. I have other commitments to adhere to,’ he said.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., cast himself as ‘cautiously optimistic’ that a speaker would be found soon and said his colleagues showed ‘a consensus that we have to get back to work.’ 

‘Tonight was very cordial. It’s the first time was cordial, I think, among members,’ Zinke told Fox News Digital. ‘I saw a distinct diminishing of hostilities, it seemed to be a little calmer.’

‘After I saw that tone tonight, I’m actually, I would say cautiously optimistic, that we can actually get a speaker done this week,’ Zinke added.

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said ‘sheer exhaustion’ within the GOP conference would help bring an end to the saga.

‘I don’t know of anybody in there that wants this to go on longer than tomorrow. Literally, regardless of who they’re supporting,’ Fallon said, adding that constituents want them ‘to get this done today.’

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is introducing a resolution on Tuesday to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., accusing the progressive ‘Squad’ member of ‘antisemitic activity’ and ‘sympathizing with terrorist organizations.’

‘The [Democratic] Party has done nothing to hold her accountable. They’ve done nothing to rein her in, and no one else here has done it. And so I thought it was right to list examples of – this isn’t just new. This isn’t a one-off thing. This is exactly who she is,’ Greene told Fox News Digital.

Greene accused Tlaib of leading a pro-Palestinian protest on Capitol Hill last week. Hundreds of demonstrators called for a cease-fire after the terror group Hamas staged an unprecedented, bloody incursion from the Palestinian exclave of Gaza into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing hundreds of civilians and prompting an ongoing response from the Israeli military.

LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS 

Tlaib spoke at the protest, during which activists took over much of the ground floor at the Cannon House Office Building. 

In those comments, she blamed Israel for bombing a hospital in Gaza – remarks she did not retract after multiple intelligence agencies said that existing proof indicated the blast came from a misfired Hamas rocket.

Greene called the protest ‘an insurrection’ in her resolution.

In its text, Greene also referenced Tlaib’s endorsement of a slogan used by Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization. She also recalled Tlaib’s past comments in which she called Israel ‘an apartheid government.’

Tlaib is the only Palestinian-American member of Congress.

IRAN-BACKED MILITIAS IN IRAQ CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTACK ON US MILITARY BASE IN SYRIA 

Greene said when asked about GOP feedback to her push to censure Tlaib, ‘I think we will have every single Republican vote with us for this central resolution.’

She said of the left, ‘It would be shocking to me if they didn’t vote for it.’

Greene also called for Tlaib’s support of last week’s cease-fire protest to be investigated by multiple House panels.

‘It should [have] a House Ethics investigation. [The House Administration Committee] should be investigating it. I think the Department of Justice, FBI should be investigating, even possibly the CIA,’ Greene said.

Tlaib’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is among the voices of GOP lawmakers who want the Biden administration’s emergency supplemental package split up into individual policies. 

The White House sent Congress a request Friday morning lumping aid to Israel, Gaza, Ukraine and the southern border together. 

The total amount requested is roughly $105 billion. It includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine; $14.3 billion for Israel (with $10.6 billion allocated for military aid); $13.6 billion for border protection, including measures to combat the flow of fentanyl; and significant investments in Indo-Pacific security assistance, totaling around $7.4 billion. Additionally, there’s $9 billion earmarked for humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.

‘The border funding that is included is all designed to accelerate the processing of illegal immigration,’ Cruz told Fox News in an interview Friday. ‘In other words, it’s not designed to stop the crisis at our southern border. It’s designed to make it worse.’

The request outlines investment in 1,300 more border security agents to stop the flow of fentanyl, as well as 1,600 more asylum officers to speed up asylum processing and funds for ‘cutting-edge’ detection technology at the southwest border and ‘investigative capabilities to prevent cartels from trafficking fentanyl into the United States.’

But Cruz — a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — said throwing more money at the border won’t solve the problem, ‘but rather policy changes.’ 

‘And in particular, the only way to stop the crisis is to end catch and release and to reinstate the Remain in Mexico agreement,’ he said, also known as Title 42. 

Title 42 — a COVID-19 era emergency order that allowed the government to expel migrants faster — was rescinded in May.

And while lawmakers in both chambers are in support of aid to Israel’s military, they are deeply divided on aid to Ukraine in its defense against Russia since the invasion began in February 2022.

‘When it comes to Ukraine, there is significant disagreement within Congress on Ukraine funding,’ Cruz said. ‘The Biden administration wants no congressional scrutiny concerning their funding for Ukraine, they don’t want any examination into money they’re sending that is being wasted, is subject to corruption — they want no oversight on that front.’

But before any spending package to move forward, the House will have to vote in a new speaker to replace recently-ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Funding the government for the next fiscal year is essentially frozen without a speaker, and the clock is ticking as the deadline, Nov. 17, quickly approaches. 

Aid to Ukraine and the southern border are likely to be sticking points that could drag the process out and potentially cause a government shutdown if lawmakers don’t agree on a package by the cutoff. The current temporary spending patch — known as a continuing resolution (CR) — does not include any additional aid to Ukraine or the border. 

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, one of the leading candidates until Friday, failed to gain enough votes to become speaker after three attempts. Cruz previously threw in his support for him, while he called the House’s debacle ‘chaotic.’

‘I’ve been in the Senate 11 years and for 11 years, I have consistently stayed out of House leadership elections,’ Cruz said. ‘For the first time I made an exception to that policy. Because Jim Jordan called and asked me for my support. Jim is a close friend.’

‘I think the House is going to work it out,’ he continued. ‘We’re going to have a speaker of the House. I don’t know the exact timing there right now.’

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, privately lambasted Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie after his 2016 endorsement of former President Donald Trump, according to a new biography of Romney released Tuesday.

In an early 2016 email described as ‘curt,’ Romney told Christie that he was ‘stunned’ the latter had endorsed Trump, according to the biography ‘Romney: A Reckoning,’ an advance copy of which was shared with Fox News Digital. The book, which details the tense back-and-forth in addition to other insights from Romney’s lengthy political career, was released Tuesday and authored by journalist McKay Coppins.

‘If you ever want to have a rational conversation about all of this, I am always happy to do so,’ Christie finally wrote in response after Romney sent him multiple messages over the course of several weeks regarding his Trump endorsement, according to the book.

‘He is unequivocally mentally unstable, and he is racist, bigoted, misogynistic, xenophobic, vulgar and prone to violence,’ Romney said, per the book. ‘There is simply no rational argument that could lead me to vote for someone with those characteristics. I believe your endorsement of him severely diminishes you morally — though probably not politically — and that you must withdraw that support to preserve your integrity and character.’

On Feb. 26, 2016, Christie announced he would endorse Trump, who had emerged at the time as a front-runner to win the GOP presidential nomination. In a surprise news conference, Christie stood with Trump and stated he was ‘happy to be on the Trump team,’ adding that he looked forward to working with him.

Christie, who formerly served as governor of New Jersey, dropped out of the Republican primary weeks prior to the endorsement on Feb. 10, 2016. He dropped out after failing to win a significant portion of votes during the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

Meanwhile, Christie launched a second bid for president in June and has spent a considerable amount of effort attacking Trump.

‘He’s completely full of cr–, and he makes it up as he goes along,’ Christie said of Trump last week.

The former New Jersey governor has also called Trump ‘Donald Duck’ for avoiding the first two Republican debates of the 2024 election cycle.

Coppins’ biography of Romney sheds additional light on how the Utah Republican, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2012, continued to vigorously oppose Trump during the 2016 election. And it also details the moments leading up to, and following, Romney’s highly publicized meeting with Trump after the election.

‘You know, it’s going to be hard for you to be seen as a credible [Cabinet] candidate here with all the negative things you’ve said about Donald Trump,’ former Vice President Mike Pence told Romney after the November 2016 meeting, according to the book. ‘So, it would be really helpful if you went out to the media after this meeting … and just said you were wrong, and that what you’ve learned has given you much more confidence in him being president.’

‘There’s no way I can do that,’ Romney responded to Pence.

Weeks later, Romney dined with Trump and told reporters afterward that Trump’s actions following the election gave him ‘increasing hope that President-elect Trump is the very man who can lead us to’ a better future.

Romney was ultimately not selected for a Cabinet position following the meetings, something he later reflected was a blessing in disguise.

Romney and Christie didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Republicans are getting ready to vote for a speaker candidate for a third time after their past two nominees to lead the chamber dropped out of the race.

GOP lawmakers are gathering behind closed doors at 9 a.m. on Tuesday for an election via anonymous secret ballot.

There are nine Republicans jostling for the speakership right now: Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.; GOP Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson, R-La.; GOP Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer, R-Ala.; Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla.; Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich.; Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga.; Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas; and Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.

The vote comes after the candidates made their pitch to the GOP conference on Monday night at a candidate forum.

The front-runner right now appears to be Emmer, who has been endorsed by ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Other candidates going into the election with several endorsements under their belt are Donalds and Bergman.

It’s likely to take several rounds of voting – a candidate must win a conference majority to be named speaker-designate under current House GOP Conference rules.

If no candidate manages to win a majority during a given round, the person with the least amount of votes is withdrawn from the race and another round is held.

The election comes three weeks after McCarthy’s ouster from the top job, the first time in history the House of Representatives removed their leader in the middle of a congressional term.

Last week, House Republicans selected Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, but he pulled out of the race after he was unable to secure 217 Republican votes – the number needed for a House-wide majority.

Before that, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was the original pick of the conference to replace McCarthy. He dropped out of the race just a day after winning the nomination – opposition from Jordan allies made it clear he would not reach 217 votes.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Monday he has ‘grave concerns’ about Israel’s potential ground invasion into Gaza amid an ongoing war prompted by Hamas’ terror attack on the Jewish State.

In a statement released Monday, Welch said he has ‘grave concerns about the wisdom and military efficacy’ of an Israeli ground invasion in Gaza and that there is ‘no doubt’ an imminent ground invasion would be ‘catastrophic for innocent Palestinians in Gaza and jeopardize urgent efforts to save hostages.’

‘Israel has the absolute right to attack Hamas for the brutal, heinous slaughter of more than 1,400 Israelis and the taking of more than 200 hostages,’ Welch wrote. ‘But, Israel also has a responsibility to protect Palestinian civilians living in Gaza, including one million children. Already, more than 5,000 Palestinians have died.’

More than 5,700 people have been killed and thousands more wounded in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its largest attack against Israel in decades on Oct. 7, leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the terrorist group.

Israel has indicated it will be conducting a ground invasion into Gaza to attack Hamas, although there is no definitive timetable on when such an attack would begin.

Hamas has taken more than 220 people hostage, but at least four have been released thus far, including two Americans who were freed last week. The Israeli military told The Times of Israel that it is concerned additional hostage releases by Hamas could lead the political leadership to delay a ground invasion or stop it midway.

U.S. and international officials, lawmakers and humanitarian aid groups have expressed concerns about the conditions in Gaza after Israel cut off water and fuel supply to the region following Hamas’ initial attack.

‘The humanitarian conditions in Gaza are terrible and getting worse every day,’ Welch said in his statement. ‘One million Palestinians, including women and children, have been displaced. Most are living in the open—without food, without shelter, fuel, water, or access to medicine. United Nations relief efforts have begun but are unable to meet the extreme needs of the moment.’

‘A ground invasion would further exacerbate the dire conditions in Gaza,’ Welch concluded.

Last week, Welch and fellow Democrat Sens. Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, and Chris Van Hollen, of Maryland, wrote a letter to Biden urging that ‘every effort be made to avoid civilian harm and to allow access to humanitarian aid for those in need,’ including restoring access to food, electricity, water, fuel and medicine to civilians in Gaza and establishing a humanitarian corridor to allow aid into Gaza and safe passage for U.S. citizens who wish to evacuate the region.

The international community has been working to supply civilians of Gaza with humanitarian aid in the wake of the violence in the region. Egypt, Israel and the United Nations facilitated a 20-truck convoy carrying humanitarian assistance that was delivered to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing last week.

President Biden and five other Western leaders said in a joint statement Sunday that they ‘welcomed the announcement of the first humanitarian convoys to reach Palestinians in need in Gaza and committed to continue coordinating with partners in the region to ensure sustained and safe access to food, water, medical care, and other assistance required to meet humanitarian needs.’

Former President Obama is warning that any strategy the Israeli military takes in its war against Hamas that ignores the danger to civilians ‘could ultimately backfire.’ 

Obama made the remark in a lengthy statement posted on Medium, where he said ‘Israel has a right to defend its citizens against such wanton violence’ perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorist group and that he fully supports ‘President Biden’s call for the United States to support our long-time ally in going after Hamas, dismantling its military capabilities, and facilitating the safe return of hundreds of hostages to their families.’ 

‘Still, the world is watching closely as events in the region unfold, and any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs could ultimately backfire,’ Obama said. ‘Already, thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the bombing of Gaza, many of them children. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.  

‘The Israeli government’s decision to cut off food, water and electricity to a captive civilian population threatens not only to worsen a growing humanitarian crisis; it could further harden Palestinian attitudes for generations, erode global support for Israel, play into the hands of Israel’s enemies, and undermine long term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region,’ he added. 

LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS 

The comments come as Israel has built up its military presence along the Gaza border ahead of a possible ground invasion into the territory. 

Obama said in his statement that ‘Hamas’ military operations are deeply embedded within Gaza – and its leadership seems to intentionally hide among civilians, thereby endangering the very people they claim to represent.’ 

SEN. PETER WELCH SAYS ISRAEL GROUND INVASION WOULD ‘EXACERBATE’ CONDITIONS IN GAZA: ‘GRAVE CONCERNS’ 

‘But even as we support Israel, we should also be clear that how Israel prosecutes this fight against Hamas matters. In particular, it matters – as President Biden has repeatedly emphasized – that Israel’s military strategy abides by international law, including those laws that seek to avoid, to every extent possible, the death or suffering of civilian populations,’ Obama also said.  

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby had said Monday that the U.S. is asking Israel ‘tough questions that any military ought to be asking’ ahead of a possible ground incursion into the Gaza Strip.  

‘I can tell you we have, since the beginning of the conflict in the early hours, maintained a level of communication with our Israeli counterparts to ascertain their intentions, their strategy, their aims to see what their answers are to the kinds of tough questions that any military ought to be asking before you launch any kind of a major operation,’ Kirby told reporters gathered at the White House.