Georgia judge smacks down Trump lawyer's claim that he's immune from prosecution

Georgia Judge Scott McAfee denied a pair of motions by Trump-aligned lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, including one that asserted he should be immune from prosecution, reported POLITICO's Kyle Cheney on Friday.

Chesebro had argued that the crimes of which he is being accused in the election racketeering case are not chargeable because he was acting in the capacity of an attorney giving advice.

But McAfee rejected the argument – and told him to save it for the jury.

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"The Defendant’s affirmative defense that he simply performed his legal duty to a client may be suitable for a jury charge," wrote McAfee. "But it is irrelevant in the pretrial context of immunity, and this Court declines the invitation to supplant the jury’s role as the factfinder."

McAfee also denied a motion by Chesebro to exclude evidence obtained from a search warrant of his Microsoft account, which Chesebro had argued was shielded by attorney-client privilege.

"Defendant has not sufficiently particularized why the attorney-client privilege applies, nor does he contend inclusion of these materials affected the viability of the warrant itself," wrote McAfee, adding that the law under which he invoked the motion only applies to a "non-suspect attorney," as opposed to one being charged with a crime.

Chesebro, whose case was recently severed from that of former President Donald Trump, allegedly helped craft the plan for overturning the 2020 presidential election, outlining ideas in a memo that even by his own admission was advising something illegal.