Kenneth Chesebro, a former legal adviser to Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential campaign, has been prohibited from practicing law in New York. This decision is due to his involvement in a plan intended to overturn the election results from five years ago.
A New York state appeals court issued an order on Thursday stating that Chesebro’s criminal actions, specifically conspiring to file false documents connected to efforts in Georgia to reverse Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020, undermine the principles of constitutional democracy that he was sworn to uphold as an attorney.
Chesebro was first admitted to practice law in New York in 2007. His disbarment is effective immediately, the order says.
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In 2023, Chesebro accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors in Georgia, admitting guilt to one count of conspiracy to file false documents, following his indictment on seven charges.
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.
