The recent guilty pleas from two important allies in the high-profile Georgia election interference case involving Donald Trump have intensified the pressure on the former president and raised doubts about whether his once-loyal associates may potentially turn against him. Two attorneys, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, have pleaded guilty to related crimes and have agreed to testify against other defendants. They were charged with playing separate roles in an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in multiple ways. These recent guilty pleas, following a previous guilty plea by Scott Hall in September, strengthen the prosecutors’ position and may compel other defendants to also cooperate, thereby increasing the legal risks for Trump.
According to Chandelle Summer, a Georgia attorney who has previously worked as both a prosecutor and public defender in the state, “Once you get a couple people pleading, it starts sort of an avalanche of pleas.” This indicates that additional defendants may also choose to plead guilty. As part of their plea agreements, Chesebro, Powell, and Hall will provide relevant documents to the state of Georgia and are prohibited from communicating with witnesses or co-defendants in the case. Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, believes that the information provided by these three individuals could significantly strengthen the government’s evidence in Trump’s federal election meddling trial, which is scheduled to begin in March in Washington. Eisen also mentioned that both Powell and Chesebro were unindicted co-conspirators in the federal case, making their testimony particularly central to the overall investigation.
In his guilty plea, Kenneth Chesebro, an election lawyer, admitted to conspiring to file false documents. He shed light on the scheme to recruit fake presidential electors to vote for Trump in states won by President Joe Biden. Chesebro was responsible for creating and distributing false documents in Georgia and other states, which individuals would submit to the National Archives and Congress, posing as presidential electors. Melissa Redmon, a former Fulton County prosecutor who heads the Prosecutorial Justice Program at the University of Georgia School of Law, suggests that Chesebro’s plea deal could lead to further revelations about John Eastman, who appears to have been in close communication with Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump at the time. These connections can help establish a clear motive behind the false elector activity, which was aimed at ensuring Trump’s presidency at all costs.
Sidney Powell, an election lawyer who made baseless claims of election fraud, pleaded guilty to six misdemeanors related to tampering with election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia. Legal experts believe that Powell’s agreement to provide testimony could have significant implications for the overall case, given her substantial interactions with Trump, Giuliani, and others involved. Powell may also be able to provide details about how the co-defendants attempted to overturn the 2020 election. She and Giuliani attended a contentious meeting at the White House with Trump where the possibility of military intervention to seize voting machines was discussed, although no action was taken by Trump on this proposal.
Scott Hall, a bail bondsman who acted as a go-between for several co-defendants, pleaded guilty in September to five misdemeanors related to interfering with election duties. Hall facilitated the tampering of election equipment in Coffee County and had multiple conversations with co-defendants in the case. For instance, Hall spoke with Jeffrey Clark, a former assistant attorney general, for over an hour on January 2, 2021, as stated in the indictment. Clark, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of drafting a letter containing false statements about the Justice Department’s concerns regarding the 2020 election, which was intended to be sent to Georgia officials. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen refused to sign or send the letter. Hall also had repeated conversations with co-defendants who allegedly tried to intimidate election workers into changing their accounts of what occurred during the ballot counting process at State Farm Arena on election night in 2020.
While these guilty pleas have freed up several months on the court calendar for the trial of Powell and Chesebro, it is important to note that in Fulton County, there are several pre-trial deadlines to be met before a trial date is set. Melissa Redmon believes that it is unlikely that a trial date for Trump will be scheduled soon. She explains that Judge McAfee will need to consider the schedules of Trump’s other criminal trials and the scheduling conflicts of his attorneys. Chandelle Summer suggests that if Trump is acquitted in the DC case, a trial in Georgia may be scheduled for the fall of 2024. However, Norman Eisen believes that it may be possible for McAfee to schedule Trump’s trial in Georgia sooner if Chesebro and Powell are ready for trial expeditiously. He stated, “If Chesebro and Powell could get ready for trial on an accelerated basis, surely it’s not too unreasonable for Trump and possibly other defendants to prepare themselves to face a jury in Atlanta at some point in the coming months.”
