Judge rejects an attempt by Trump campaign lawyer to invalidate guilty plea in Georgia election case
The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump has rejected an attempt by former Trump campaign lawyer Kenneth Chesebro to invalidate his guilty plea
ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others on Friday rejected an attempt by former Trump campaign lawyer Kenneth Chesebro to invalidate his guilty plea.
Chesebro, Trump and 17 others were charged in August 2023 in a sprawling indictment that accused them of participating in a sweeping scheme to try to illegally overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count a few months later after reaching a deal with prosecutors just before he was to go to trial.
His lawyer t his month asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to invalidate the plea after McAfee in September tossed out the charge to which he had pleaded guilty. Defense attorney Manny Arora wrote that a failure to invalidate the plea would violate Chesebro's constitutional right to due process.
McAfee's order denying that request said the motion was procedurally defective "in more ways than one.” He ultimately said he lacks jurisdiction to grant the request and therefore dismissed it.
