And then there were 15. The plea by an attorney, Jenna Ellis, once a lawyer for President Trump, brings the district attorney of Fulton County, Fani Willis, a step closer to convicting the 45th president. 

Ms. Ellis’s guilty plea — it’s for a felony — was delivered with a sense of drama not seen from her erstwhile co-defendants, some of whom also reached cooperation agreements with prosecutors that took jail time off the table in exchange for a promise to testify “truthfully” for prosecutors. She, unlike them, took the occasion to speak in court. 

The one-time attorney for Mr. Trump’s campaign told Judge Scott McAphee through tears, “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges.” She adds that she looks back “on this whole experience with deep remorse” and that she “failed to do my due diligence.”

That failure will result in five years of probation, a $5,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service. She joins two other attorneys, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, in opting to cooperate rather than take their chances at trial. All faced a single racketeering charge that carries a minimum jail sentence of five years.

Ms. Ellis’s agreement, though, requires more of her than the demands imposed on Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell. Her cooperation arrangement is more fulsome: It requires not only truthful testimony but also an obligation to meet with prosecutors and provide further statements should they be requested. She has admitted to “aiding and abetting” in the commission of crimes by Mayor Giuliani and another attorney, Ray Smith.    

Ms. Ellis, 38, appears to be concerned not only with her liberty, but also with her professional future. In her courtroom comments, she referenced disciplinary proceedings against her in her home state of Colorado, where she was once a deputy district attorney for Weld County. 

Ms. Ellis’s plea will not include an admission to a crime of “moral turpitude,” which could have precluded her ability to practice law. She has already admitted, before the Colorado supreme court, to “undermining the American public’s confidence in the 2020 presidential election.” That resulted in a public censure.    

The growing number of guilty pleas — Ms. Ellis’s is for one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings — means that Ms. Willis now has a stable of potential witnesses to draw from as she plots her path forward in the sprawling case she brought to convict those she alleges worked to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 

The rush to plead surfaces the question of Ms. Willis’s larger strategy. That four defendants have now evaded jail — and also evaded conviction for the racketeering charge that is the glue that holds together the alleged conspiracy — could suggest that her case is wobbly.

Then again, it could also mean that she is focused on a few defendants at the expense of securing a heap of convictions. Mr. Trump’s attorney, Stephen Sadow, though, takes the position that Ms. Willis is operating from a position of weakness rather than strength.  He said in a statement that what Ms. Ellis’s plea “shows is this so-called RICO” — that is the racketeering statute — “case is nothing more than a bargaining chip” for Ms. Willis. 

One clue that Ms. Ellis is more useful to Ms. Willis as a cooperating witness rather than a defendant can be gleaned from the district attorney’s indictment. The lawyer, who now supports Governor DeSantis for president, was charged with only one other crime besides racketeering. Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell each faced seven charges.

Messrs. Trump and Giuliani, though, are each charged with 13 crimes, making them the central figures in Ms. Willis’s alleged conspiracy. Ms. Ellis, though, worked with Mr. Giuliani in the aftermath of the 2020 election in what she called an “elite strike force” whose aim was to reverse the election’s result. Prosecutors note that she and Mr. Giuliani met with lawmakers in an effort to persuade them to name Mr. Trump Georgia’s victor.  

Ms. Ellis appears to allude to this relationship in court, telling Judge McAfee that she “relied on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than I, to provide me with true and reliable information.” That could preview testimony that places the blame on Mr. Giuliani as the senior partner in this lawyering enterprise gone awry.      

When Ms. Ellis was indicted, she posted her mug shot to X along with a verse from the Book of Matthew — “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” A different verse from that Gospel, though, could appeal to Ms. Willis — “for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” 

Before Ms. Ellis signed a deal that could help put Mr. Trump behind bars, she criticized the former president for not covering her legal bills, and raised more than $200,000 to that end in a crowdsourced online fundraising campaign. It appears unlikely that she will forward any of that sum to Messrs. Trump and Giuliani, who retain the presumption of innocence.