A former lawyer to Donald Trump has pleaded guilty in an election subversion case in the US state of Georgia.
Kenneth Chesebro is the third of 19 co-defendants to plead guilty in a deal with Fulton County prosecutors.
He is accused of putting forward a slate of fake pro-Trump electors in Georgia and other states to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.
Mr Trump is among those charged in the case. He has pleaded not guilty.
Chesebro’s plea deal comes a day after another ex-Trump lawyer, Sidney Powell, admitted guilt in the case.
A third co-defendant, bail bondsman Scott Hall, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in late September.
Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to file false documents.
His deal with prosecutors on Friday came as jury selection began in his case. The trial will no longer go forward.
Under the plea deals, the former defendants will have to testify under oath in forthcoming trials.
Chesebro faces five years of probation, a $5,000 (£4,109) fine and community service. He also must provide documents and evidence related to the case and write an apology letter to citizens of Georgia.
He had faced a total of seven charges in the Georgia election interference case, including conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer.
Chesebro is an appellate lawyer who first became involved in the Trump campaign’s post-election efforts in Wisconsin before expanding into other states lost by Mr Trump.
He is accused of helping to devise a plan to submit fake slates of electors for Mr Trump.
Specifically, it is alleged he wrote a memo that provided instructions for how such electors in states including Georgia should proceed to meet and cast votes for Mr Trump.
His guilty plea can be seen as a victory for Fulton County prosecutors as they continue to build their case against Mr Trump, said Atlanta lawyer Rachel Kaufman.
“The chips are falling and falling on Trump,” Ms Kaufman told the BBC.
“Chesebro pleading guilty and agreeing to testify truthfully against his co-defendants is the biggest blow yet to any defence they’ve been building. Chesebro was like the captain of Trump’s legal team – and was often the only link between Trump and the other co-conspirators,” she said.
In total, the former president faces 13 felony counts – including racketeering – for allegedly pressuring state officials to reverse results in the presidential election.
He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and has described the case as politically motivated.
BBC
