Within 24 hours this week, two of the lawyers most closely identified with Donald Trump’s attack on the 2020 election officially jumped off the MAGA train.
On Friday, Kenneth Chesebro pled guilty in a Georgia courtroom. The plea is momentous because Chesebro was the main architect of Donald Trump's “coup in search of a legal theory,” as a federal judge has called Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Chesebro’s admission of guilt and promise of cooperation send a stark message to Trump: the erroneous legal theory central to his coming prosecutions was part of a criminal scheme. Taken with Sidney Powell’s surprise guilty plea the day before, this means two of the main actors in the 2020 election conspiracy have just become witnesses against Trump, who now faces an enhanced prospect of conviction as a result.
