Georgia’s Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis, who brought the sweeping criminal case alleging a conspiracy to interfere with the 2020 presidential election that named 19 defendants including former President Donald Trump, has obtained another win.
Local Judge Scott McAfee ruled against attempts by defendant Kenneth Chesebro to claim attorney-client privilege over certain documents that helped provide the foundation for prosecutors’ case against him. Thus, the materials remain usable as the case moves ahead.
Chesebro is a lawyer tied to Trump who helped develop and advance the plan for assembling sham slates of electors in states where Democratic candidate Joe Biden was found to be the winner, and documents whose inclusion in the case he was challenging evidently included materials already available publicly. The judge found, though, that applying what’s known as the crime-fraud exception to the dispute was sufficient to decide the question. Prosecutors only need to make a substantial showing of possible criminal activity or fraud to provide for the exception, meaning they don’t have to completely prove their case.
“The State having met its low burden of showing that the charges have “some foundation in fact,” the undersigned concludes that the communications fall within the crime-fraud exception and are neither protected work product nor privileged,” McAfee said in his decision. Jury selection for Chesebro’s trial is scheduled to begin Friday. He had been set to face trial alongside co-defendant Sidney Powell, but Powell abruptly took a plea deal Thursday — an arrangement that also set her up to provide testimony in future proceedings, which in theory could include testimony against Trump.
Chesebro also recently lost in an attempt to challenge the foundation of Willis’ allegations against him of racketeering, which is a form of criminal conspiracy. The judge (McAfee again) rejected contentions that stricter standards needed to be met (like financial gain or the threat of physical harm) before bringing charges. Chesebro will be the first to face trial in Willis’ case after he sought, as facilitated under the law, a speedy trial. Scheduling for trials against the remaining defendants with active charges hasn’t been established.
Read Judge McAfee’s order here: https://t.co/WCHCfMDyrP
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) October 18, 2023
