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Michael Cohen, former lawyer to Donald Trump, predicts that there will be many more instances of defendants flipping on the former president in the Georgia racketeering case.
On Friday, attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of Trump's 18 co-defendants charged in attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents. Chesebro's plea arrived a day after lawyer Sidney Powell, a fellow Trump co-defendant, pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts in the case. Both ex-Trump attorneys were scheduled to head to trial Monday.
Reacting on X, formerly Twitter, Cohen welcomed Chesebro's plea Friday afternoon, writing: "There is going to be more 'flipping' on @realDonaldTrump by co-defendants than the USA gymnastics team during a competition!"
"I warned everyone that affiliation to or with @realDonaldTrump will lead to your entire life being wrecked," Cohen wrote in a separate post. "Kenneth Chesebro is yet another person who ignored my warning and is now facing the consequences."
Chesebro was accused of being the architect of a fake elector scheme in several swing states following the 2020 election, in which Trump allies allegedly attempted to overturn the states' presidential election results, including Georgia's, using a slate of false Electoral College electors.
The ex-Trump attorney was sentenced to five years' probation and 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution on Friday, reported the Associated Press. The attorney will also have to write an apology letter to Georgia's residents and testify at future trials.
Newsweek reached out to Chesebro via email for comment on Friday afternoon.
Three defendants in Fulton County Fani Willis' sprawling racketeering case have now pleaded guilty, including bail bondsman Scott Hall in late September. He is also required to testify against others in the case as part of his agreement.
Trump maintains he is innocent of the charges brought against him, which include violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and soliciting a public official to violate their oath.
In August, Cohen predicted which co-defendants in Trump's racketeering case he expects to see flip on the former president, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump's ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorney John Eastman. At the moment, the rest of Trump's co-defendants have also pleaded not guilty.
Cohen has been a staunch critic of his former boss in light of Trump's plethora of legal troubles. In 2018, the attorney pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, and was sentenced to three years in jail.
Cohen's charges were in connection to hush-money payments made in 2016 on behalf of Trump—the former president faces 34 felony counts in Manhattan over allegations that he falsified business records to cover the payments. Trump also maintains he is innocent of those charges.
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About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more