Trump Lawyer Had an Unhinged Solution for Overturning the Election
A 1,439-page document dump from a settlement involving Donald Trump ally Kenneth Chesebro reveals the inner machinations of the so-called architect of Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme.
Text messages between Chesebro and another Trump lawyer, Jim Troupis, reveal a man hunting down every possible loophole in an effort to undermine the electoral transfer of power.
“Republicans have 26 states,” Chesebro messaged Troupis on January 3, 2021. “McConnell should not allow a vote either, because Republicans electing Pence would look illegitimate—would seem like Pence froze the process to become acting president instead of Pelosi.”
“Republicans electing Harris would be a horror,” he added, noting that “McConnell would need to protect his caucus from such a Hobson’s choice.”
Three days later, Chesebro attended the Capitol riot, tagging along with a group including InfoWars’ Alex Jones. In private messages, Chesebro celebrated having helped devise a plot to prevent Joe Biden’s peaceful succession.
But hours later, his messaging had changed, instead trafficking conspiracies that the riot had been instigated by “antifa” rather than Trump’s MAGA crowd. The following day, Chesebro turned his ire onto former Vice President Mike Pence, whom he wanted to publicly blame for the fringe plan’s failure, claiming Pence had given Trump and his allies false hope.
“He had top-flight advice available to him more than a month ago,” Chesebro wrote on January 7, 2021. “I sketched what we had in mind for alternate electors, with Pence not opening envelopes. I detected no enthusiasm for any deviation from the [Electoral Count Act].”
“I now think Pence had decided by then not to do anything to press the envelope or create a test case, but decided to not be straight with the president.”
“If I’m right, Pence gave him false hope,” Chesebro continued. “He allowed Trump to hear of valid legal theories from Rudy [Giuliani] and [John] Eastman which gave him hope, which was crushed when Pence suddenly crushed them at the end.”
In other delusional messages, Chesebro wrote that Trump could potentially diffuse the tension after the riot by inviting Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over for coffee on the morning of the 46th president’s inauguration and by making “a few well-placed jokes.”
Last month, Chesebro was caught lying to Michigan prosecutors about his social media presence ahead of and during the scheme to overthrow the 2020 election, hiding an account with dozens of posts that reveal his role in the plot and illustrate a far more aggressive election subversion strategy.
Chesebro has struck a plea deal in Trump’s Georgia election interference case and has so far managed to skirt charges in other states affected by the fake elector scheme thanks to his cooperation with prosecutors. But all that could change with the attorney’s true opinions and dirty laundry in the air.
