A pair of guilty pleas in a Georgia courtroom almost feels like Page 2 news in the midst of the terrifying Israel-Hamas war and the unsolvable speakerless and paralysis of a major spoke of the US government, the House of Representatives.
This week, however, two of Trump’s co-defendants pleaded guilty in the lawsuit against him for their roles in an attempt to change the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump's 2020 and 2021 election challenge "face," Sidney Powell, pled guilty on Thursday. The felony charges against the ex-Trump attorney were reduced to misdemeanours, and she agreed to testify as a witness in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Kenneth Chesebro was an attorney who assisted in the planning and execution of the phoney electors conspiracy, but he was a less conspicuous figurehead for the endeavour. On Friday, he entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to file false paperwork. He will probably also stay out of jail.
After being charged with conspiring to illegally access voter data and ballot-counting devices at the Coffee County election office on January 7, 2021, bail bondsman Scott Hall pled guilty last month.So, the case against Trump and his co-defendants continues without a trial date. Trump’s trial has not been scheduled and he has maintained his innocence.
The Georgia procedures are a part of a complex web of legal troubles brewing under the 2024 election, together with the three other forthcoming criminal cases in New York, Washington, DC, and Florida, and the continuing civil trial in New York.
Trump may be more concerned by the Chesebro appeal than he is with Powell’s.
Chesebro, along with Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, acknowledged to participating in a plot to construct a slate of fraudulent electors in Georgia.
The Georgia case initiated by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has had its opponents, according to AWN legal expert and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams, in part because it includes 18 co-defendants along with Trump, which may make it seem politically motivated.
Williams, however, claims that the guilty pleas prove criminal activity occurred when Trump attempted to erase Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Williams told AWN Max’s Jim Sciutto, “This ought to pour cold water on the notion that this was just a partisan witch hunt to target the president and his allies.”
Beyond the borders of Georgia, Chesebro’s entry stands.
His guilty plea was reported by AWN, which adds, “Chesebro acknowledged in the plea that he ‘created and distributed false Electoral College documents’ to Trump operatives in Georgia and other states and that he worked ‘in coordination with’ the Trump campaign.”
The prosecution agreed to withdraw all but one of Chesebro’s charges in exchange for his testimony.
Meetings between Trump and Powell were crucial.
AWN’s Marshall Cohen points out that the fact that Powell’s plea agreement made no reference to Trump does not indicate that she will not be questioned about him under oath.
On December 18, 2020, Powell was present at a White House meeting where some of Trump’s most extreme supporters urged him to appoint her as a special counsel to investigate allegations of voter fraud, to consider declaring martial law, and to sign executive orders instructing the military to seize voting machines.
Cohen also says that anything Powell says to prosecutors in Georgia might be used in the federal election subversion case launched by special counsel Jack Smith.
In other circumstances, Trump is subject to gag orders.
In the federal 2020 election subversion case, Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, issued a gag order. Trump is appealing, claiming that she “took away my right to speak,” and Chutkan temporarily froze the decision on Friday pending the outcome of the appeal.
In March, at the height of primary season, Chutkan is adamant that the federal lawsuit begin.
As Trump entered the courtroom in New York, where he is facing a civil fraud lawsuit brought by the state attorney general, he made those remarks about his freedom of expression. After a social media post on Trump’s campaign website insulted a court employee while Trump was under a gag order, Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump $5,000 on Friday for breaking the order.
Engoron warned that further violations may result in Trump’s imprisonment.
I’m prepared to spend time behind bars
Trump acknowledged, prior to the gag-order related threat from Engoron in New York, when the former president discussed the prospect of prison during an event in Clive, Iowa, that he is in very real legal peril, and the recent court developments are an important reminder of this.
Trump stated during the gathering, “What they don’t understand is that I am willing to go to jail if that is what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again.”
Given that he is being accused of trying to undermine an election—one of the cornerstones of democracy—the words have an odd level of irony.
The anti-Trump movement is what?
On American News Network, former New Jersey governor and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie stated he does not think Trump is willing to go to jail.
A jail cell is the last place Christie said he wanted to spend even five minutes. He voiced his displeasure that Trump hasn’t participated in any of the Republican primary debates.
Christie has stated that “Donald Trump does not want any legitimate debate or discussion about his conduct.”
Time and opportunities are running out for Republicans to challenge Trump, including Christie. On November 8 in Miami, there will be another debate, but Christie has not yet met the requirements to participate. NBC, the conservative Salem Radio Network, and the outlet Rumble are all sponsoring the event.
AWN’s senior media correspondent Oliver Darcy thinks the relationship makes for odd bedfellows.
As Darcy puts it, “it is striking that NBC News would agree to link arms with such organisations, but it is not surprising that the GOP, which veered sharply to the right during Donald Trump’s presidency, would select Salem and Rumble as partners.”
Republicans who are opposed to Trump want to see at least some of the other challengers to him withdraw out of the race. It’s likely that there will be far fewer persons on the debate stage on November 8.
However, the outgoing president will not be attending. To deflect attention from his opponents, Trump plans to hold a rally in the area.