Attorney Kenneth Chesebro – one of the authors of a plan to use Republican presidential electors to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia – pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents. He was originally charged with seven felony counts in the case.
Chesebro will serve five years of probation, pay $5,000 in restitution to the state and serve 100 hours of community service. He also must write an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia and testify truthfully as the case proceeds.
Chesebro is the third defendant to plead guilty in the case and the second this week. He is the first to plead guilty to a felony. On Thursday attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor charges for her role in an election data breach in Coffee County. Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall previously reached a deal in the same Coffee County incident.
Chesebro and Powell had both asked for speedy trials so their cases were moving faster than those of the other Fulton County defendants.
The deals are a major victory for prosecutors, who charged 19 people – including former President Donald Trump – for their roles in an allegedly illegal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Documents released by congressional investigators show Chesebro played a key role in the Republican electors plan. He drafted a series of memos suggesting the General Assembly or Congress could name Trump the winner in Georgia and other states Biden won, citing dubious allegations of voting fraud as a pretext. Chesebro sought unsuccessfully to have the memos excluded as evidence in the trial.
Trump’s campaign organized Republican electors in Georgia and six other states Biden won. They met and voted for Trump even as each state’s official electors cast their ballots for Biden. In most cases, they also filed paperwork as if they were the states’ official electors.
Fulton County prosecutors charged three of the Republican electors. In addition, they charged Trump, Chesebro, attorneys John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani and others allegedly involved in the plan.
From the moment Judge McAfee’s courtroom was unlocked on Friday morning it became evident that something was afoot. Prosecutors and Chesebro’s attorneys were chipper and at ease, and courthouse staff buzzed about an imminent plea deal.It took a few hours for that agreement to emerge publicly.
Chesebro is the first defendant to plead guilty to a felony, though his attorneys believed he would still be able to keep his law license.
Chesebro attorney Scott Grubman said the agreement underscores his client has been mischaracterized as a key figure behind the Republican electors plan. He noted Chesebro “gets to go home to his family now” and will “not spend one day in jail.”
“While Mr. Chesebro obviously stood up and accepted responsibility as part of a plea deal, I think the plea deal absolutely shows and proves he was not – and never was – the architect of some fake elector planning,” Grubman told reporters after Friday’s hearing.
