Trump’s Georgia co-defendant Chesebro seeks to sever his case from Sidney Powell: ‘Oil and water’

Former Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro asked Friday for his trial in the Georgia election interference case to be detached from that of co-defendant and fellow former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, arguing that there is “no correlation or overlap” between the allegations against them. 

Chesebro claims that he neither “physically met” Powell nor exchanged phone, text, email or social media messages with her during the legal push to keep the 77-year-old in power after his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, according to a court filing. 

The submission downplays Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ claims that Chesebro was the “architect of the Trump elector scheme” and calls the allegations against Powell “entirely separate, and completely unrelated.”

 “The allegations related to Ms. Powell center around her alleged belief, and alleged work in furtherance of that belief, that voting machines were erroneously tabulating votes. In fact, the lion’s share of the allegations related to Ms. Powell centers around activities that occurred in Coffee County, Georgia. Not only has Mr. Chesebro never been to Coffee County or anywhere even close to it, he has not overtly or directly been charged with having any connection to any of the Coffee County allegations,” defense attorney Scott Grubman wrote in the 6-page filing. 

Chesebro and Powell have both separately requested speedy trials, citing the Peach State’s right to a rapid proceeding, and have submitted written not-guilty pleas, waiving their in-person arraignments on seven felony counts, including violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. 

That charge is the only count that both Chesebro and Powell face in common. 

Chesebro also faces two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; one count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents; and one count of conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer. 

Powell faces two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; one count of conspiracy to commit computer theft; one count of conspiracy to commit computer trespass; one count of conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy; and one count of conspiracy to defraud the state. 

Chesebro’s motion argues that if he is tried alongside Powell, “the State will attempt to lump them together in an attempt to convict Mr. Chesebro via a ‘conspiracy’ or ‘RICO’ theory based on the conduct of the co-defendant which has no relation to anything for which he stands accused.” 

“The actions of Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell are akin to oil and water; wholly separate and impossible to mix (into one conspiracy),” Grubman wrote.  

Willis has asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to set a trial date of Oct. 23 for all 19 defendants in the case.

Trump’s legal team asked McAfee on Thursday to detach the former president’s case from the two campaign lawyers, arguing that the proposed speedy trial date would not give the former president’s attorneys enough time to prepare a defense against the 13 felony counts of which he has been accused.