Donald Trump indictment: Co-defendant Chesebro makes surprise ‘speedy trial’ request
Kaelan Deese
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Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of 19 people charged in a sweeping racketeering case over former President Donald Trump‘s alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia, is making demands for a speedy trial.
Scott Grubman, who is defending Chesebro along with lawyer Manny Arora, told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in a Wednesday filing that Georgia state law “sets a firm time limit in which to have a fair trial.”
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“Mr. Chesebro has given his official notice that he intends to avail himself of that right. Mr. Chesebro maintains his innocence and remains confident as the legal process continues,” according to the filing.
Chesebro, who worked with local officials for the GOP in Georgia to organize an alternate slate of electors, appears to be asking for a trial sooner than even the early March trial start requested to McAfee by District Attorney Fani Willis.
Georgia’s speedy trial rules mean that Chesebro’s case would have to be tried by the end of October, though the fact that three other defendants are currently attempting to move their case to federal court in Atlanta could complicate the matter.
On top of that, legal experts told the Washington Examiner that cases involving Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act can sometimes take years before they actually get to trial, and several of them previously balked at the idea that a judge would sign off on Willis’s timetable.
Chesebro’s request stands in great contrast to Trump’s legal strategy across his four criminal cases. The former president has often sought to delay his trials until after the election.
On Thursday, the defendant made a subsequent filing asking for an expedited arraignment to quickly get his trial started in the criminal case.
Arraignments in the case are already slated to start next week and run through Sept. 8, though Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee hasn’t indicated who will go first or when.
Jeff Brickman, an Atlanta-based attorney, told the Washington Examiner that Chesebro’s filings are a “strategic decision” that is “not done that often.”
“What they’ve decided to do, the defense, is to, one could say either calling the state’s bluff or trying to catch them off guard, or [they don’t] believe that the state would be as ready as they would down the road,” Brickman said.
“It’s a strategic decision that’s made and you just always need to be careful what you ask for,” Brickman added.
Willis has previously said she intends to try all 19 defendants simultaneously.
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Chesebro was charged with violating the RICO Act, conspiring to impersonate a public officer, conspiring to file a false document, and two counts each of conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiring to commit false statements and writings.
He is also widely believed to be co-conspirator 5 in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal case in Washington, D.C., against Trump’s alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election results.