In a dramatic turn of events, Kenneth Chesebro, a former campaign lawyer for Donald Trump, struck a last-minute guilty plea deal on Friday in the case alleging that the former US president led a criminal conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia.
Chesebro, 62, was formally charged in Georgia in August, along with the former Republican president and 17 others. He was accused of orchestrating a plan to submit a list of false electors to Congress in an attempt to block the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory over Trump that year.
Jury selection for his trial began on Friday at the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia. However, it came to an abrupt halt after Chesebro unexpectedly reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Chesebro, facing seven charges, including extortion (a felony carrying jail time), pleaded guilty only to the charge of conspiracy to submit false documents in exchange for probation and the dismissal of the other charges.
His guilty plea followed a similar agreement made by another former Trump campaign lawyer, Sidney Powell, who agreed to testify in the upcoming trials of other co-defendants. Powell, 68, was a staunch Trump supporter known for promoting extravagant conspiracy theories about foreign manipulation of voting machines.
With Chesebro and Powell now cooperating with the prosecution, along with an earlier guilty plea by co-defendant Scott Hall, the legal pressure on Trump intensifies. The former president, still a candidate for the 2024 elections, is set to face trial in a federal court in Washington starting March 4 for attempting to manipulate the 2020 election results.
As these legal proceedings unfold, they cast a spotlight on the allegations surrounding Trump’s campaign tactics, emphasizing the significance of these cases in shaping the future political landscape.