Kenneth Chesebro loses bid to shield Trump evidence from jurors

A Georgia judge ruled against former Donald Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro in his bid to shield evidence in his Georgia election trial.

Chesebro's lawyers had argued that emails and memos he wrote laying out a plan to use Republican electors in seven states won by Joe Biden were protected under attorney-client privilege, but Fulton County Superior Court judge Scott McAfee found those protections were only meant to shield lawyers who were not suspected of crimes, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The judge called the defense argument a "strained reading" of Georgia law and found the documents accompany a search warrant that turned up the memos “repeatedly refers to the Defendant as a ‘co-conspirator,’ ‘participant,’ ‘intermediary,’ and ‘liaison’ working with several other charged defendants in this case to further a ‘false elector plot’ in violation of several laws.”

The documents include communications with co-defendants John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, and one key piece of evidence is a Jan. 4, 2021, email to Eastman that discussed multiple strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress two days later to certify Biden's election win.

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McAfee also denied another motion to dismiss the case entirely or provide Chesebro with immunity from prosecution because, his lawyers argued, he was simply providing legal advice to the former president, but the judge said he was free to tell that to a jury.

The judge said during Friday's hearing that jury selection for the trial of Chesebro and co-defendant Sidney Powell would begin on Oct. 20, and he said jurors should expect to set aside three to five months for the trial, with holiday breaks in November and December.

Special prosecutor Nathan Wade said district attorney Fani Willis' office expects to offer a plea agreement to Chesrbro and Powell before the trial begins.