On Friday, the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney’s office and the legal counsel for the Trump campaign reached an agreement over the issue involving alleged interference in the 2020 election.
Kenneth Chesebro‘s trial was set to begin this week. He was charged with trying to prevent the transition of power following the 2020 election together with Donald Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants.
On Friday, when the jury selection process was beginning, he accepted the offer after 450 prospective jurors completed a thorough questionnaire outlining the questions they would be asked. Late last month, he turned down an earlier offer.
Kenneth Chesebro appeared before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee and entered a plea of guilty to a felony count of conspiring to file fraudulent paperwork in exchange for agreeing to provide testimony in the case.
According to the conditions of the agreement, the Trump lawyer must continue to give the state records and evidence, as well as five years of probation, a $5,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service.
As required by the agreement, Chesebro claimed to have already drafted an apologetic letter when he spoke in court. The plea deal Chesebro rejected in late September was given under Georgia’s First Offender Act and essentially followed its outline.
His lawyer, Scott Grubman, stood by him and stated in court that with good conduct, the probationary period may be lowered to three years.
Chesebro is the third co-defendant in the case to accept a plea agreement from Fulton County prosecutors and the second Trump attorney to enter a guilty plea. Sidney Powell, a former Trump attorney, unceremoniously pleaded guilty on Thursday morning. Prior to entering guilty pleas in the case, the two attorneys were scheduled to go on trial together.
Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, also reached a settlement after confessing to the scheme last month. All three have agreed to provide frank testimony in the case.
According to Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis’ indictment, Chesebro was a primary architect of a scheme to utilize fictitious electors from Georgia and other states to ignore electoral college votes for Joe Biden in the most recent presidential election in favor of Trump.
On Friday, Grubman asserted that it is untrue to say that Chesebro is the mastermind behind a scheme to oust democracy. When asked if Trump ought to be concerned, Grubman responded, “I don’t think so.”
He didn’t inform anyone. In relation to his client, Grubman continued, “He went in there and accepted responsibility.
He added that the agreement allows his client to visit his family once again and averts the lengthy jail term he was anticipating.
A representative for the district attorney’s office in Fulton County declined to comment on the plea agreement.
In Willis’ extensive racketeering case, which alleges plots to rig Georgia’s 2020 presidential election, 19 people have been accused. Chesebro had initially asserted his innocence.
Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and the other 15 co-defendants in the case have all entered not-guilty pleas.