Chesebro guilty plea on count 15 of Georgia indictment is a huge blow to Trump: analysis
Fulton County Sheriff Dept. mugshots of Kenneth Chesebro and Donald Trump
October 23, 2023
While "Kraken' attorney Sidney Powell's plea deal on Georgia state racketeering charges related to the 2020 presidential election is not good news for Donald Trump, Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro's subsequent plea deal on similar charges is considerably more perilous for the former president.
In an analysis of the surprise flipping by two close associates of Trump, the Guardian's Hugo Lowell noted that Powell pleaded out on misdemeanor charges while Chesebro's deal included pleading guilty to a felony charge.
More importantly, Lowell wrote, was Chesebro's guilty plea on count 15 in his indictment that directly ties Trump to election fraud.
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"At issue for Trump is that Chesebro’s plea deal in Fulton County required him to admit guilt to count 15 in the indictment – that Trump and Chesebro and others violated the law in filing the fake electors certificate – and thereby affirm that the fake electors were indeed fraudulent," he wrote before adding, "The fact that Chesebro gave a statement means that if it were to be shared with the special counsel, federal prosecutors in Washington could use that to bolster their conspiracy to defraud case against Trump now, regardless of if and when Chesebro takes the stand in Georgia."
Lowell also noted that, even if Chesebro is called to the stand by Smith's team and pleads the 5th, DOJ officials still have the count 15 guilty plea and the tape to fall back on as evidence against the former president.
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