A Georgia judge has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to review former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro’s requests to have their cases dismissed after they pleaded not guilty to charges of interfering with the contested state’s elections.
Fulton County Superior Court Justice Scott McAfee said he plans to ask prosecutors at the hearing for a “good faith estimated time that can reasonably be expected to consider the state’s case during a joint trial of all.” 19 co-defendants and alternatively any departments.” including the number of witnesses expected to be summoned and the number and size of exhibits expected to be presented.”
The massive, 41-count indictment in the case alleges violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act by former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants, including Powell and Chesebro. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleged that all 19 defendants participated in plots aimed at undoing Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia in 2020 and unlawfully proclaiming Trump the election winner.
All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty since Tuesday and have waived their charges.
Powell, who was part of Trump’s legal team that reinforced his allegations of widespread voter fraud after his defeat by Biden, is charged with racketeering, conspiracy to voter fraud, conspiracy to steal computers, trespassing and invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to voter fraud in the state. The computer theft charge was related to an attempt to illegally gain access to voting machines in rural Coffee County, prosecutors say.
Powell filed a motion last month to have her case separated from the other co-defendants, saying she has “no substantive connection to any other defendant as to the charges in the indictment.”
“Contrary to widespread misstatements in the media, Sidney Powell did not represent President Trump or the Trump campaign. She had no engagement agreement with either of them,” Powell’s defense attorney Brian Rafferty said in a filing last month. “It cannot be disputed that Ms. Powell went her own way after the election, and she has never agreed on any course of action with any accused or uncharged co-conspirator — let alone an illegal course of action.” She wasn’t part an “actually associated” group or “ongoing organization” that functioned as a “ongoing entity” for some purpose.”
Rafferty denied Powell’s involvement in the Coffee County election data breach, saying there was no contract to perform forensic examinations of the systems and that she did not organize the trip to Coffee County.
“MS. Powell can only get a fair trial if she stands alone in court. “The prejudice she would suffer from a lengthy trial involving people with whom she was not involved, and from the large number of events to which of whom she was unaware or had no dealings would deprive her of due process,” Rafferty said in a filing last month that her trial would last a maximum of three days and would result in an acquittal. “The simple fact that If Ms. Powell were forced to sit in the courtroom with co-defendants for weeks or months, Ms. Powell will be harmed tremendously.”
Chesebro, a former Trump campaign attorney who helped develop the fringe theory behind the so-called “fake electors” scheme to overturn the 2020 election, last week pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in the case.
Chesebro has argued that he merely provided legal advice and did not commit any illegal acts. Last month he filed motions calling for an expeditious trial, which McAfee approved and scheduled for October 23.
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Last week, Chesebro also asked the judge to separate his case from the other co-defendants. His attorneys said he did not want to be tried with Powell because the charges against him were unrelated to Powell’s allegations.
“Completely separate and entirely separate from the allegations made against Mr. Chesebro, the allegations related to Ms. Powell center on her alleged belief and alleged work to promote that belief that voting machines were misreading votes,” the attorneys said in a filing last week .
Chesebro’s attorneys said he never communicated directly with Powell, nor was he in Coffee County, where much of their alleged involvement took place. They argued that dealing their client with Powell would be potentially harmful.
“In order to obtain a fair determination of Mr. Chesebro’s guilt or innocence, he must be disqualified from trial,” the filing reads. “The fact that Mr. Chesebro is involved with Ms. Powell will bind them inseparably and has the potential to inspire tremendous prejudice.”
Wednesday’s hearing also comes a day after Chesebro’s attorneys asked McAfee to dismiss the RICO charges, citing the constitution’s precedence clause.
In the filing filed Tuesday, Chesebro’s attorneys said most of the conduct he is accused of occurred after the 2020 election “safe harbor” date, when states could resolve disputes and confirm their findings, and that they would therefore be breaking federal law, not Georgia law.
“Under the supremacy clause, the state cannot prosecute or otherwise regulate conduct that falls entirely within federal jurisdiction. Therefore, the state has no authority to prosecute any conduct after December 8,” they wrote.
They cited a December 6, 2020 memo written by Chesebro detailing the fake voter scheme on the filing, arguing that even if it was inappropriate for Chesebro to write the memo, “this memo has in no way touched or disturbed Georgia or its rules.” Processes or procedures implemented by it through its Congress delegation on the [Electoral Count Act].”
“Therefore, the charges against Mr. Chesebro, as set forth in the indictment, are wholly invalid and should be dropped accordingly,” they wrote.
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