Trump’s Defense Pick May Bully His Way to a Senate Confirmation

In June 2024, all three were charged with forgery for attempting to send fake certified elector documents—which falsely claimed Wisconsin and Michigan electors chose Trump—to Washington, D.C., ahead of 2020’s presidential electoral certification process. Tuesday’s charges come from interviews with fake electors who say that they were duped by the trio.

According to the charging documents, the fake electors were told that what they were doing was legal, with historical precedent from John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon’s election in Hawaii. None of them believed that their signatures were going to be submitted to the president of the Senate during election certification on January 6, 2021, and they did not give their consent for that, either.

Chesebro is cooperating with the state of Wisconsin but is still facing charges elsewhere. He’s a co-conspirator in Georgia’s fake elector case, where he has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the state. He’s also facing charges for fake elector shenanigans and cooperating with the state in Michigan. Since all of these cases are at the state level, Chesebro can’t be pardoned by Trump and ultimately, if he’s found guilty, could go to prison.