Jury selection was set to begin Friday for Kenneth Chesebro, the first defendant to go to trial in the racketeering case surrounding 2020 election interference in Georgia.

Chesebro, along with former President Trump, is among 19 co-defendants who were indicted by a grand jury on racketeering and other charges related to attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election victory for President Biden.

Along with racketeering Chesebro’s charges in the case are related to his having drafted official memos suggesting the use of so-called “alternate electors” to prevent then-President-elect Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes in the 2020 election.

His defense team has acknowledged that he drafted the legal memos at the center of his alleged conduct, but they argue that his actions were justified since Chesebro was “fulfilling his duty to his client as an attorney.”

Chesebro is going to trial ahead of any trial date for other co-defendants because he’d asked for a speedy trial. A date has not yet been set for the other co-defendants.

On Thursday, co-defendant and fellow former Trump attorney Sidney Powell—who was supposed to be tried alongside Chesebro—pleaded guilty to the charges against her. In a deal with prosecutors, she has agreed to serve six years’ probation, and pay a $6,000 fine and another $2,700 in restitution to the state of Georgia. She has also written an apology letter to the citizens of the state of Georgia as part of the deal.

Further, she agreed to “truthfully testify at all hearings and proceedings and trials involving the co-defendants” and provide all documents relevant to the case to the District Attorney’s office. 

She must also refrain from communicating with co-defendants, media or witnesses until the cases against all co-defendants have been completely closed.

Powell was the second co-defendant to plead guilty. Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall, whose charges, like Powell’s, surrounded breaching the voting data and machinery in Coffee County, Georgia, pleaded guilty on September 29.

If Chesebro does not take a plea deal before the trial starts, the proceedings in his case will provide a first extensive look into the evidence Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has amassed in her more-than two-year investigation. 

PHOTO: Fulton County Superior Court hearing on Chesebro, Powell speedy trial, Sept 6

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