Sidney Powell: who is the US attorney, what are her claims of voter fraud - and why has the Trump campaign cut ties with her?

A legal team led by Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis distanced themselves from the lawyer after she made a series of baseless and bizarre claims

Sidney Powell speaks to the press about various lawsuits related to the 2020 election on November 19 (Getty Images)

US President Trump’s legal team has released a statement distancing itself from lawyer Sidney Powell.

The Conservative lawyer made a series of baseless claims at a press conference on November 19 alleging voter fraud, and claiming that votes had been “flipped” in Joe Biden’s favour.

Despite Mr Trump recently referring to Ms Powell as one of his lawyers, the outgoing President's legal team have now insisted that Powell is “practising law on her own."

The move came as key allies of Mr Trump put pressure on the leader to concede the US election, with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie referring to the president’s legal team as “an embarrassment”.

What claims did Sidney Powell make?

During a bizarre press conference, Ms Powell levelled allegations of voter fraud at the Biden campaign team.

She vowed to “blow up” Georgia with a “biblical” lawsuit.

She wrongly claimed that a server located in Germany hosted evidence of voting irregularities.

Powell also claimed that voting machines used in Georgia, one of several states where Trump’s campaign team is disputing results, were built at the direction of deceased Venezuelan leader hugo Chavez.

She claims that these machines, created by Dominion Voting Systems were used to “flip” Trump votes in favour of Biden.

She said: "It can set and run an algorithm that probably ran all over the country to take a certain percentage of votes from President Trump and flip them to President Biden."

There is no evidence that the machines changed votes.

Who is Sidney Powell?

Sidney Powell is a former federal prosecutor, who served as the lead lawyer for Michael Flynn

Michael Flynn was Mr Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn, but plead guilty to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. While representing Mr Flynn, Sidney Powell promoted conspiracy theories suggesting that “deep state” were looking to frame him.

Though Mr Trump’s legal team has distanced itself from Ms Powell, the president has recently suggested that she served on his legal team.

On November 14, he tweeted: “I look forward to Mayor Giuliani spearheading the legal effort to defend OUR RIGHT to FREE and FAIR ELECTIONS! Rudy Giuliani, Joseph diGenova, Victoria Toensing, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis, a truly great team, added to our other wonderful lawyers and representatives!”

Ms Powell has previously represented executives in the Enron scandal.

What did Trump’s legal team say?

In a statement released on Sunday, Mr Trump’s legal team released a statement isolating Ms Powell from its team.

It read: “Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump legal team. She is also not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity.”

The letter was signed by Mr Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and another lawyer, Jenna Ellis.