Donald Trump’s co-defendant Ken Chesebro argued Tuesday that giving the former president “less than two months” of legal advice doesn’t constitute racketeering.
Chesebro’s lawyers made the case to a judge in Georgia.
Chesebro is one of 18 Trump co-defendants accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. Prosecutors say he was the architect of a plan to use fake electors to have Trump declared the winner.
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In the court filing – first reported by The Messenger – his attorneys take issue with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' argument that the 19 co-defendants tried “to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump” between Nov. 2020 and Sept. 15, 2022.
But Chesebro’s legal team says any effort to overturn the result would have ended in January 2021 – when Biden was declared the winner.
"In other words, the congressional certification proceeding on January 6, 2021, was the final stage of the presidential election process, and the event which by statute was to lead to the official declaration of the winner of the presidential election," the motion reads.
Under Georgia law, for a scheme to be considered racketeering, it needs to have continued for a substantial amount of time, the Messenger reported.
"There is no legal, statutory, or constitutional authority or other mechanism – whether lawful or unlawful – for changing the outcome of the presidential election once Congress finalizes the result of the election on January 6."
"Mr. Chesebro’s total involvement in the matter lasted approximately six weeks," lawyer Scott Grubman wrote.
