How Sidney Powell's guilty plea may impact Donald Trump

Former Donald Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell's stunning plea deal in the Georgia election subversion case on the eve of her trial will significantly changes the landscape of the ongoing state and federal prosecutions against the former president.

As recently as Tuesday, Powell was still posting false claims on social media that said the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. But on Thursday, she walked into an Atlanta courtroom and admitted that she was guilty of trying to interfere with the 2020 election.

Her plea deal with Fulton County prosecutors will require her to testify truthfully against her co-defendants at any upcoming trials, including against Trump himself.

"This is a really big breakthrough for prosecutors," CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday on "News Central." "There's no such thing as halfway cooperation."

Here's a breakdown of how this could impact the cases going forward.

There's nothing like an impending trial to spur a defendant into cutting a deal. And it looks like this is exactly what happened, for Powell at least.

Instead of going to trial on seven felonies, Powell pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors. As part of the deal, prosecutors recommended a probation-only sentence.