One of former President Trump's co-defendants in the sweeping Georgia election interference case plans to meet with investigators in states still probing efforts to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election.
Kenneth Chesebro — a Trump lawyer who helped craft the alternate electors scheme pushing to certify slates of Trump-supporting “fake” electors in battleground states instead of the true electoral votes cast for Biden — plans to meet with investigators in Nevada and Arizona in the near future, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
Chesebro pleaded guilty last month to one count of conspiracy to file false documents, a lesser charge than the seven felony counts he originally faced including a state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charge. Those charges mainly pertained to Chesebro's efforts to organize the pro-Trump electors, who ultimately met in seven states won by now-President Biden.
Following his guilty plea, Chesebro’s counsel asked the court to modify his probation rules to allow for travel to Nevada, Arizona and Washington, D.C., for ongoing “investigations of the ‘election fraud’ cases.”
“Mr. Chesebro needs to be able to travel to these jurisdictions in order to meet with counsel,” the filing read.
Politico first confirmed last week that the Nevada attorney general's office is investigating the six Nevada activists who met and signed false paperwork saying they were the state’s true electors. A spokesperson for Arizona's attorney general's office confirmed to The Hill that its probe into the slate of fake electors there is also ongoing.
A Chesebro lawyer was contacted by Nevada investigators last week to arrange a sit-down, and Arizona investigators intend to speak with Chesebro in the coming weeks, the Post reported.
Nevada officials have offered Chesebro a “proffer” agreement where they agreed not to charge him in exchange for truthful testimony, while in Arizona there is no such deal — and in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, no such outreach has been made at all, according to the Post.
The Arizona investigation remains focused on the Trump-supporting electors, not out-of-state supporters of the plan, and on Trump allies' efforts to pressure state and local officials to subvert the state's 2020 election results, the Post reported.
Still, the probes in Nevada and Arizona could prove to be contentious for Trump and his allies in the future as more evidence is unearthed in those investigations and the Georgia case moves forward to trial.
Investigations into alternate elector plots in Michigan and New Mexico are also ongoing. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania attorney general's office previously declined to comment on whether it is looking into the state's fake electors scheme.
The Wisconsin attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment.
