Kenneth Chesebro, a former legal adviser for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, is now barred from practicing law in New York over his role in a scheme to overturn Trump’s election loss five years ago.
In an order Thursday, a state appeals court in New York said Chesebro’s criminal conduct, namely conspiring to commit filing false documents in connection with efforts to negate Trump’s 2020 defeat in Georgia to Joe Biden, “undercuts the very notion of our constitutional democracy that he, as an attorney, swore an oath to uphold.”
Chesebro was first admitted to practice law in New York in 2007. His disbarment is effective immediately, the order says.
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Chesebro played a key role in devising a strategy to create slates of fake pro-Trump electors in Georgia, and six other states the president lost to Biden to disrupt or delay Congress from certifying Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.
In 2023, he struck a plea deal with Georgia prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents after he was indicted on seven counts.
Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, which included indictments against him, Chesebro and 17 others. The case stalled this year, in large part because of Trump’s election win in November and the removal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as prosecutor.
The court, which had initially suspended Chesebro from practicing law in the New York last year, said in Thursday’s order that Chesebro’s “cavalier attitude regarding his actions, particularly in the face of his extensive background in the areas of constitutional and election law, largely aggravates his conduct.”
According to the order, an official tasked with putting together a report on evidence and testimony also disputed an argument from Chesebro’s attorney that it was incorrect to characterize his client as the architect of Trump’s plans to overturn the election.
The court said the official noted that “despite efforts to combat the description that respondent was the ‘architect’ of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the testimony and documentary evidence produced at the hearing fully support such a claim, inasmuch as respondent’s legal analysis and implementation guidelines fueled the effort.”
An attorney for Chesebro did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
Chesebro is one of many Trump-allied attorneys who were penalized for their involvement in Trump’s election interference efforts.
Rudy Giuliani was disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., and Jenna Ellis was prohibited from practicing law in Colorado for three years after she pleaded guilty in connection with Trump’s efforts to subvert the election.
