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Former U.S. Army prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said federal investigators are "closing in" on a number of Trump's "crooked, democracy-busting" lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as the Justice Department steps up its probe into the January 6 Capitol riot.
In a YouTube video posted on Wednesday, Kirschner said a new report from The New York Times "makes it pretty clear that justice is beginning to squeeze Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and yes, Kenneth Chesebro."
A federal grand jury has begun issuing subpoenas to people linked to the alternate elector plan, requesting information about the four pro-Trump lawyers, the Wednesday report said.
"These fake electors, these fraudulent electors for Donald Trump, signed certificates swearing, certifying, that they were the duly appointed electors, that Mr. Trump won states he lost," Kirschner explained. "Then they sent those fake certificates to the National Archives and to Congress."
"That's a crime," Kirschner said. "It was so brazen, it was so corrupt. It would be like if they took somebody and put that person in prison and their justification was 'Well, who knows? Maybe someday somebody will determine there's evidence that that person did something wrong."
All seven of the key swing states under the plan were awarded to President Joe Biden.
"It's certainly good that the Department of Justice is using a federal grand jury to criminally investigate the activity of these treasonous lawyers," Kirschner said.
Speaking about Chesebro, the legal analyst added that it's "pretty clear" that the House committee investigating the Capitol riot has Chesebro's written communications proving his involvement in the alternate electors' plan.
"They've got incriminating information," Kirschner said. "They've got the goods on attorney Chesebro."
In a March letter to Chesebro, the House panel said its probe "has revealed credible evidence that [he] participated in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election."
Kirschner has previously floated the idea Trump allies, like Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, could be prosecuted as "accessories" for the alleged "crimes" committed by the former president.
"Whoever, knowing that an offense against the United States has been committed, receives, relieves, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the fact," the prosecutor said in a video earlier this month. "Assisting Donald Trump in getting away with his crimes is precisely what people like Bannon and Meadows and [Peter] Navarro and [Dan] Scavino continue to do."
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more