(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Chesebro and Powell Gamble On Speedy Trial In GA RICO Case. Are They Hoping To Cut A Deal? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-08-26

I know others have written diaries on Chesebro’s move for a speedy trial, and now Sidney Powell is requesting a speed trial too. I don’t know about the rest of you all, but my head is swimming with all the legal manuevers (I probably watch way too much MSNBC with all the legal analysts). However, I think this analysis by Stephen Aftergut helped me to understand what is driving Chesebro and Powell to ask for a speedy trial.

Basically, Chesebro and Powell don’t want to go down the toilet wth Trump.

Here are some reasons Chesebro likely sought a fast trial and why Willis seems to want it even more. Chesebro would rightly view himself as less culpable than Trump, and even lawyers Rudolph Giuliani or John Eastman, who advised Trump directly. It was easy for Chesebro and his lawyer to see that by demanding a fast trial, Trump and others would move, with good prospects of success, to sever themselves from Chesebro’s trial on the ground that they needed more time to prepare. Figuratively speaking, Chesebro knows that mold from a big cheese, if close to a smaller slice, can taint it. He thinks it’s best to keep his distance. A trial without Trump and others could also help Chesebro, he might calculate, by raising questions in jurors’ minds about why he was being singled out. Then again, a prosecutor and judge can explain that jurors are to focus solely on the defendant and the evidence before them. They are not to concern themselves about criminal justice procedures with which the law does not trouble them. Chesebro might also have thought that Fani Willis, like many prosecutors, brought the indictment without being 100% ready to try the case. Prosecutors understand that there are almost always months to do further preparation before a jury is sworn.

I think what is missing from this part of the analysis is that Chesebro sees the hand writing on the wall. Trump is going to blame his legal team. He has already said as much. And sociopaths never take responsibility for their actions. It’s always somone else’s fault. Therefore, Chesebro wants to get out in front of Trump’s attempts to blame his lawyers.

Anyway, I think Aftergut is correct that Chesebro thinks that Willis’s case will fall apart if the defendents can sever their cases. And who knows? Maybe Chesebro is delusional enough to think he can win without him being tied to others in the RICO indictment?

If he thinks this, he is delusional:

Ultimately, the prosecutors’ holy grail is a conviction. There, it’s evidence that rules. Willis’s apparent case against Chesebro is powerful. Consider these four buckets of proof. Three Chesebro Memos. On November 18, Chesebro wrote the first known legal memorandum outlining the plot. Fake elector slates were meant to provide a pretext for Vice President Mike Pence, as presiding officer of the January 6 Joint Session of Congress, to claim there was a dispute and a basis to reject or delay the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral win. The Georgia indictment alleges follow-up Chesebro memos on December 6 and 9 in which he elaborates on the procedures the fake electors would need to follow. Those memos were sent to alleged co-conspirators and Republican fake electors in battleground states. Emails. According to the indictment, Chesebro sent multiple emails that “outline strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.” In a December 13 email to Giuliani, Chesebro allegedly wrote that his “strategies . . . were ‘preferable to letting the Electoral Act operate by its own terms.’” A lawyer who puts in writing that he doesn’t want the law to operate as written has some explaining to do. Chesebro’s defense counsel is not likely to want him on the witness stand where he’ll be subject to cross-examination. Witness testimony. Special Counsel Jack Smith apparently has devastating evidence, which is likely to be available to Willis, that on December 11, 2020, Chesebro suggested to an Arizona lawyer that he needed to file a Supreme Court petition challenging the state’s election as “a pretext.”

And finally, there is that video of Chesebro following around Alex Jones during the Jan 6th insurrection.

To recap then:

Chesebro is gambling that Willis’s case is not ready for trial.

Once severed, any case against Chesebro will fall apart because Willis’s indictment is RICO. Where are all the other defendents? Why is poor old lonely Chesebro being singled out for prosecution?

Chesebro knows that Trump is alreay going to blame him and the other lawyers, so Chesebro needs to get out in front of this “Thrown Under the Bus” legal strategy.

Chesebro must be on drugs or drinking because Willis is ready for trial and has a strong case.

I think all of the above applies to Sidney Powell’s legal efforts.

And I have to admit that I got this next notion from the legal analysts on MSNBC: Chesebro and Powell may be positioning themselves for a potential plea deal for reduced time in prison. As others on Daily Kos pointed out, the best chance to reduce time in prison is to have made a plea deal to cooperate BEFORE being indicted. Once you are indicted, the rewards for a plea deal and cooperating with the prosecution are diminished. And once you are convicted, I assume the rewards diminish even further.

No matter what, Chesebro will face some time in prison whether he decideds to cooperate or not. And the same goes for Powell. What both may face during discovery is how strong Willis’s case is against each of them. Supposedly, this is the “Come to Jesus” moment for some defendents.

Chesebro may find that he cannot dodge a conviction and make a plea deal. Powell is nuts, so I have no idea if “kraken” lady will see the light. This is the person that Maria Bartiroma thought was off the damn wall.

There is one safe prediction though when it comes to the GA RICO case. If Willis convicts Chesebro, you can bet your bottom dollar that panic will ensue among the other defendents in this case. And I look forward to that.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/26/2189796/-Chesebro-and-Powell-Gamble-On-Speedy-Trial-In-GA-RICO-Case-Are-They-Hoping-To-Cut-A-Deal

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/