A wave of investigations into the 2020 elections have come out in recent weeks.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in Georgia approved a change to former Trump Campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro’s probation on Nov. 27, allowing him to travel to Nevada, Arizona, and Washington, where he faces ongoing investigations related to the 2020 presidential election.
Mr. Chesebro was indicted in August, along with former President Donald Trump and 17 others—all charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for their actions challenging the 2020 election results.
Mr. Chesebro pleaded guilty in October after negotiating a plea agreement just days before his trial was set to begin.
Alternate Electors
Mr. Chesebro had outlined in a legal memo for the Trump campaign a strategy that included using alternate electors in several states and delaying the counting of the votes on Jan. 6, 2021, so that challenges could be continued in court.
These alternate slates of electors were used in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
In Georgia, Mr. Chesebro and other attorneys with whom he was in contact were indicted for conspiracy to submit false filings and other charges in addition to violating RICO. The indictment cast the alternate elector strategy as a conscious conspiracy to “impersonate” electors, though legal scholars have pointed out that similar strategies have been used in past presidential elections.
Four of the Georgia alternate electors were indicted for conspiracy to commit false statements, impersonating public officials, and other crimes. They have jointly argued—in a failed attempt to remove the case to federal court—that they were following the direction of the legal counsel of the president of the United States.
Other states have launched investigations into the alternate electors, and last week, Mr. Chesebro’s attorney requested the change to his probation that would allow him to travel to those states “in order to meet with counsel.”
Investigations Mounting
Earlier this month, Politico reported that Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford had been investigating for weeks the six alternate electors who cast Republican ballots during the 2020 elections, citing multiple anonymous sources. Mr. Chesebro’s motion days later seemed to further confirm that legal action may be underway in Nevada.
