ATLANTA — Thursday morning brought another conviction in the Georgia election interference investigation, as former Trump attorney Sidney Powell took a plea deal on the charges against her, which include violating Georgia’s RICO Act and two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud.
She was supposed to go to trial on Monday with co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro, who the Jan. 6 Committee said was an architect of the fake elector scheme not only here in Georgia, but in at least six other swing states across the country.
Powell was sentenced to six years probation, has to pay a $6,000 fine and pay $2,700 in restitution to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. She will also have to testify truthfully against the co-defendants and cannot have any contact with witnesses or other co-defendants.
According to ABC News, Chesebro has rejected a plea deal from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. The deal would have forced him to testify against his co-defendants, including former Pres. Trump, in exchange for three years probation and a $10,000 fine. The terms of the deal also included a written letter of apology, sources told ABC.
Chesebro is now one of a total of 17 people, including former President Donald Trump, accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election here in Georgia.
Scott Hall also took a plea deal last month in the case.
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Unless something changes, Chesebro will go to trial next week, with jury selection starting on Friday.
An amicus brief was also filed Thursday morning by several “former federal and state criminal justice officials, including judges, senior U.S. Department of Justice officials, a state Attorney General, and United States Attorneys, one of whom also served as a governor,” to “respond to the same profoundly mistaken legal position” Chesebro is claiming saying the “legally defective ‘alternate’ electoral slates for a losing presidential and vice presidential candidacy can be utilized by that same unsuccessful vice president during the January 6th meeting of Congress to assert unilateral power to usurp the legal authority of Congress and to refuse to recognize the certificates of the successful candidate.”
So far, all attempts Chesebro has made to have the charges against him thrown out in court have been rejected by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee.
Attorneys for Chesebro say he can’t be tried for giving the former president legal advice, even if it turned out to be wrong.
During a hearing earlier this week, McAfee suggested in court that the trial against Chesebro could take up to five months.
“Giving everyone an expectation of when we’d be off and we’d be on, and then I’d tighten it instead of a range to just say five months. Maybe we’ll do better,” McAfee said.
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