ATLANTA — Kenneth Chesebro, a former attorney for Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, is seeking to overturn his guilty plea related to the conspiracy charges in the Georgia election interference case involving Trump and other defendants.
Chesebro was indicted in August 2023 alongside Trump and 17 others, accused of being part of an extensive scheme aimed at reversing Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. After reaching an agreement with prosecutors just before his trial was set to begin, he entered a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy a few months later.
On Wednesday, his attorney requested that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee invalidate this plea, following McAfee’s decision in September to dismiss the charge to which Chesebro had pleaded guilty.
Defense attorney Manny Arora argued that in the state of Georgia, a defendant cannot admit guilt to a charge that does not constitute a crime. He further asserted that failing to overturn Chesebro’s plea would infringe upon his constitutional right to due process.
There was no immediate response from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office regarding Chesebro’s motion.
Prosecutors have indicated that Chesebro was involved in a plan for a group of 16 Republican electors in Georgia to falsely assert that Trump had won the state, thereby declaring themselves as the state’s “lawfully elected and qualified” electors. In October 2023, he admitted guilt to a felony charge of conspiracy related to the submission of false documents filed with a federal court in Atlanta.
In September, McAfee stated that penalizing someone for submitting specific documents to a federal court could allow a state to limit what can be considered by that federal court, ultimately undermining the justice system. He determined that the charge needed to be dismissed as it exceeded the jurisdiction of state law.
Chesebro is one of four individuals who entered guilty pleas in connection with this case following the indictment.
Currently, the prosecution against Trump and the other defendants is largely paused as they await the outcome of a pretrial appeal regarding an order that permits Willis to continue her involvement despite claims of a conflict of interest from defense attorneys. Regardless of the appeals court’s decision in favor of Willis, the future of the case against Trump remains uncertain, especially with his anticipated bid for the presidency again in January.
