Another Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Interference Case

Monday, October 23rd, 2023 -- 1:01 PM

(By Rich Kremer and Associated Press, Wisconsin Public Radio) Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer who authored memos detailing how Republicans could send false slates of presidential electors from states including Wisconsin to Congress, has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election interference case that charged him and 18 others.

According to Rich Kremer with Wisconsin Public Radio and the Associated Press, Chesebro pleaded guilty Friday to one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents. Jury selection for his trial had been slated to begin Friday.

Chesebro, who requested a speedy trial in the case, had been set to go to trial alongside attorney Sidney Powell, but she also took a plea deal on Thursday. Chesebro was charged in the Georgia case with seven felony counts, including racketeering.

According to the indictment, one memo he wrote "provides detailed, state-specific instructions for how (former President Donald) Trump presidential elector nominees in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin would meet and cast electoral votes" for Trump, even though he lost the election in those states.

Wisconsin played a prominent role in Chesebro's plan, which he shared with Trump's lead Wisconsin attorney, Jim Troupis, days after the 2020 presidential election.

"It may seem odd that the electors pledged to Trump and Pence might meet and cast their votes on December 14 even if, at that juncture, the Trump-Pence ticket is behind in the vote count, and no certificate of election has been issued in favor of Trump and Pence," Chesebro wrote in 2020. "However, a fair reading of the federal statutes suggests that this is a reasonable course of action."

On that date, 10 Republicans posing as electors met at the Wisconsin Capitol and cast votes for Trump despite election results showing Democrat Joe Biden won the state. Biden's victory was affirmed by state and federal courts.

Trump lost to Biden in the state by nearly 21,000 votes. The number changed little after the Trump campaign requested a recount of ballots in the Democratic strongholds of Dane and Milwaukee counties. A trial date for the Georgia case's other co-defendants, including Trump, has not been set.

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