Former Trump attorney Chesebro’s law license suspended over voter fraud scheme

By David Thomas

(Reuters) – An appeals court on Thursday indefinitely suspended the New York law license of Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, after he pleaded guilty last year to a charge stemming from efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat in Georgia.

Chesebro pleaded guilty in October 2023 to conspiracy to file false documents in Fulton County, Georgia, after prosecutors accused him of crafting the legal strategy behind a scheme to use proxy voters to circumvent Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state.

Chesebro’s conduct “definitely meets the definition of a felony in this state,” the New York Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, said in the suspension decision.

The court rejected Chesebro’s arguments that the Georgia case was not over and ordered it to explain why it should not issue a final barring order or other sanction. Chesebro was said to have no active law license outside of New York.

Chesebro and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chesebro defended his work on the Trump campaign and denied violating New York’s rules of professional conduct.

A New York disciplinary attorney deferred comment to the court.

Trump, the Republican nominee in the Nov. 5 presidential election, has continued to make false claims that the 2020 race was rigged. Other lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, have also faced charges and lost their law licenses for their election-related legal work on behalf of Trump.

Trump and his allies tried to reverse their 2020 loss to President Joe Biden in part by persuading Republican-controlled state legislatures to nominate their own Trump-friendly electors or refuse to nominate any electors, according to the congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Chesebro wrote legal briefs supporting the proxy voter strategy, the commission’s final report said.

(Reporting by David Thomas; Editing by David Bario and Bill Berkrot)