ATLANTA — Attorneys for former Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro want the court to dismiss the charges against him in the Georgia election interference case.
Chesebro came to Atlanta for a motions hearing Tuesday where his attorneys argued that he simply gave legal advice, not commit a crime.
[SPECIAL SECTION: The Georgia Election Investigation]
His attorneys contend you can’t prosecute someone for legal advice even if that advice is wrong.
Channel 2′s Richard Elliot was reporting live from the courthouse during Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m. when Chesebro and his attorneys walked out, but they refused to answer any questions and walked away.
[PHOTOS: Kenneth Chesebro appears in court for first time in person over election interference case]
This is the first time Chesebro attended one of his pretrial hearings. The Jan. 6 Commission said Chesebro was one of the legal architects for the false or alternate electors scheme.
Elliot was inside the room on Dec. 20, 2020, as those false Republican electors met in a second-floor room of the state capitol and cast their ballots for Donald Trump, even as the legal electors were meeting one floor up casting their ballots for Joe Biden.
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Chesebro’s lawyers tried to convince a judge that he simply gave Georgia Republicans and the Trump campaign legal advice and was not part of a criminal conspiracy.
His attorneys showed evidence they said showed that Chesebro was simply acting as an attorney giving what he thought was sound legal advice.
“You can ask 10 attorneys for an opinion, you’ll get 20 different answers. That’s how lawyers are,” Chesebro’s attorney Scott Grubman said.
That, they contend, is not something the state can prosecute.
Fulton County prosecutors say what was presented Tuesday showed a crime and an attempt to interfere in the Georgia presidential election.
“Speech that constitutes fraud, or harmful lies that threaten to deceive the government, or speech that’s integral to criminal conduct, is not protected by the First Amendment,” prosecutor Will Wooten said.
Chesebro and Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell are scheduled to go on trial in about two weeks.
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