Released on December 8, 2023 at 2:00 PM (EST)
Check out this photo of Kenneth Chesebro as his attorney Scott Grubman discusses with Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee during a hearing where Chesebro agreed to a plea deal with the Fulton County District Attorney at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia on October 20, 2023. (Alyssa Pointer/Getty Images)
Kenneth Chesebro, a key figure in former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 plan, pleaded guilty in October to the fake elector conspiracy in Georgia. He is now collaborating with Michigan and Wisconsin state investigators to thwart additional criminal charges, as revealed by sources to CNN. In 2020, Chesebro was at the heart of Trump’s endeavors to overturn his electoral defeat. Chesebro’s cooperation in Wisconsin marks the first sign that the state attorney general has launched an investigation into the slates of false, pro-Trump electors.
He has engaged in proffer agreements in several states, providing him with some protection from prosecution, according to multiple sources cited by CNN. Chesebro recently testified before a grand jury in Nevada, where state prosecutors announced indictments against six false electors on Wednesday. He has also been in contact with Arizona prosecutors and intends to be interviewed as part of the state’s ongoing investigation into the elector plot. The Michigan attorney general’s office, which was the first to bring criminal charges against the false electors, confirmed to CNN that its investigation is still active and may have a broader scope than previously thought.
CNN previously identified Chesebro as an unindicted co-conspirator in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment against Trump, in which Trump is accused of orchestrating the fake electors plot “to disenfranchise millions of voters” and illegally retain power. There is no indication that Chesebro is cooperating in the federal probe or that Smith has decided against charging him. Trump’s campaign targeted seven states with the scheme in 2020, and charges have been filed in Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada. Investigations are ongoing in Arizona, New Mexico, and now Wisconsin. The seventh state targeted was Pennsylvania.
