A state appeals court in New York on Thursday suspended Kenneth Chesebro, who struck a plea deal with prosecutors pursuing the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump, from practicing law there.
In a ruling Thursday, the court found that Chesebro’s felony conviction in his criminal indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, over his efforts to overturn Trump’s election loss in that state “categorically meets the definition of a serious crime in this state” and warranted the decision to bar him from practicing law in New York.
His suspension was “effective immediately, and until further order” of the court, according to the ruling.
Chesebro was indicted in Fulton County in August 2023 along with Trump and 17 other co-defendants in connection with efforts to overturn the Trump’s defeat in the state to President Joe Biden. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Chesebro was indicted on seven counts, and in a plea deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in October last year to one count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents and agreed to testify in the case.
Chesebro helped devise a strategy to create false pro-Trump slates of electors in Georgia, and other states he lost to Biden, the indictment alleged.
An attorney for Chesebro did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
After Chesebro’s deal was reached last year, his attorney, Scott Grubman, said it was incorrect to characterize Chesebro as the architect of a scheme to overrun democracy.
Some legal groups filed ethics complaints against Chesebro with the New York Supreme Court’s attorney grievance committee in 2022.
One of the groups, The 65 Project, which had cited the false electors scheme and argued in its complaint that there was a “serious risk” that Chesebro would repeat the conduct unless the New York Supreme Court took action, lauded Chesebro’s suspension in a statement Thursday.
“Ken Chesebro having his law license suspended should serve as a stark warning of what will happen if lawyers violate their oaths as officers of the court to knowingly lie to subvert democracy,” said the group’s executive director, Michael Teter.
Chesebro was admitted to practice law in New York in 2007. He also is licensed to practice in Massachusetts, California, Texas, Florida and Illinois, the court noted.
His suspension is the latest example of attorneys’ facing discipline for their efforts to overturn Trump’s election loss in 2020.
Rudy Giuliani, an attorney who helped Trump file legal challenges to the 2020 results, lost his legal license in New York in July and was disbarred in Washington, D.C., last month. Jenna Ellis, another Trump attorney, was banned in May from practicing law in Colorado for three years.
