New On Just Security: Dissecting Kenneth Chesebro’s Proffer Statement – What’s Hidden, What’s Revealed
In October, attorney Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to one felony count of “conspiracy to commit filing false documents” in the Fulton County, Georgia 2020 election subversion case. Chesebro, who helped devise former President Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme, reportedly agreed to assist prosecutors and provide them with documents.
While the extent of Chesebro’s cooperation with Fulton County DA Fani Willis is unclear, Tom Joscelyn and Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.) dissect what is known about Chesebro’s proffer in a new deep-dive analysis published in Just Security.
Joscelyn served as a senior staff member of the House Jan. 6th Committee and was one of the principal authors of its final report. Eisen served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee majority during the impeachment proceedings and trial of President Trump.
The following is an excerpt from the new Just Security analysis:
“I think [Chesebro’s] plea absolutely shows and proves that he was not and never was the architect of any sort of fake elector plan and anything like that,” Scott Grubman, an attorney for Chesebro, said [following the Chesebro plea]. Grubman added that Trump should “not be worried,” because Chesebro had “implicated himself,” and no one else, in one “particular charge.”
Grubman’s comments are curious. Chesebro’s role in orchestrating the fake elector scheme is well-established by the public record. Chesebro’s own emails show that he personally drafted the fake electoral documents and sent them, along with instructions for filing, to the parties responsible for overseeing the scheme across seven states. Chesebro also authored a series of memos and emails in which he explained how the fake electors could be used during the congressional certification on January 6, 2021 to delay or deny Joe Biden’s victory.
As part of his plea deal, Chesebro discussed at least some of this evidence and other details during a recorded proffer with Georgia prosecutors. But we do not know what, exactly, Chesebro said about much of the evidence – or if his testimony corroborates Grubman’s sweeping claims.
Last week, the Washington Post reported on parts of Chesebro’s statement, as well as excerpts of the proffers recorded for three of his co-defendants – Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Scott Hall – all of whom pleaded guilty to charges in Fulton County as well. The Post’s account is based on leaked “portions” of their statements – not their full proffers, which haven’t been released to the public. A lawyer for a fifth defendant in the Fulton County case admitted that he gave the video evidence to the media.
After the leaked proffer recordings received significant media attention, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a protective order preventing defense attorneys and prosecutors from providing sensitive evidence to the public. Therefore, we may not be able to review Chesebro’s full statement to prosecutors anytime soon.
The Post’s reporting on portions of Chesebro’s proffer raises a series of questions. Chesebro provided Fulton County prosecutors with some intriguing new details. He revealed, for example, that he personally met with then President Trump in the White House on Dec. 16, 2020. But based on what was reported in the Post, Chesebro’s description of that meeting, as well as other details, may have downplayed some important aspects of his role in the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The Just Security analysis examines The Washington Post’s account of Chesebro’s testimony concerning: his meeting with Trump, his editing of a key memo authored by another lawyer (John Eastman), his description of the role played by other lawyers working for Trump and, finally, his claim that he did not witness any violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“It is unlikely that the public will be able to assess Chesebro’s full proffer in the near future,” Joscelyn and Eisen write. “But that should not stop us or anyone involved from subjecting what is known about his testimony to further scrutiny. We may be sure of this much: the Special Counsel’s office will do that as it prepares to prosecute Trump. The federal indictment lists Chesebro as an unindicted co-conspirator based upon this very conduct.”
Read the full analysis on Just Security.
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