Trump co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia case, following Sidney Powell

Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro agreed to plead guilty Friday to a felony charge in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump.

The deal with Chesebro, who was accused of advancing a plot to challenge Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, came one day after his co-defendant Sidney Powell struck her own plea agreement with prosecutors.

Chesebro, like Powell, will be required to testify truthfully at the trials of other co-defendants in the case, including Trump, if he is asked to do so.

Chesebro’s abrupt flip signals rising pressure on the defendants to cooperate with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ team — putting more heat on the former president.

Chesebro had reportedly turned down a plea offer as recently as last month, NBC News and other outlets reported Thursday. He pleaded guilty shortly after jury proceedings in his trial had begun.

His turnabout Friday makes him the third of 19 co-defendants to plead guilty in Willis’ case, which alleges a sweeping conspiracy by Trump and others to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia’s 2020 election.

Powell and Chesebro have both been identified as likely co-conspirators in a separate election interference case against Trump in Washington, D.C., federal court. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four of his active criminal cases.

Chesebro’s defense attorney Scott Grubman said later Friday that the plea deal allows his client to return to his family and avoid the threat of serious jail time. Grubman also said it was inaccurate to describe Chesebro as the architect of a plan to subvert democracy.

Asked if Trump should be worried by the development in the case, Grubman said, “I don’t think so.”