Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis revealed three new witnesses she intends to call in the trial of pro-Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell in filings made on Tuesday. Willis’ office named Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Infowars radio host Alex Jones, and former Wisconsin Republican Party chairman Andrew Hitt in documents requesting their testimony.
Hitt was a Republican alternative elector in Wisconsin, and Willis claims he received an email from Chesebro on December 10, 2020, then met with Chesebro on December 14, as Wisconsin Republicans signed a document identifying themselves as Republican Electoral College electors.
Chesebro (pictured above, right) was indicted as part of the greater racketeering indictment against former President Donald Trump over his legal strategy that required an alternative slate of Republican electors to preserve Trump’s legal challenges in six contested states.
Willis claims Chesebro’s attendance at the December 14 elector meeting in Wisconsin is proof he “took an active role by actively participating” in Trump’s election contest. In turn, Willis claims this will prove Chesebro did more than provide legal memos and advice.
Text messages revealed as part of the U.S. House’s January 6 committee showed that Hitt expressed reservations about the Republican elector plan on December 12, worrying the Trump campaign would ask them to “say we are only the proper electors.” Hitt ultimately became a Republican alternative elector in Wisconsin after the December 14 meeting.
While Willis included communications that reference the December 14 meeting in Georgia in her August indictment, she did not reference a transcript of the meeting. Chesebro recently provided that transcript to the court, and The Federalist previously reported it could exonerate the alternative electors, as it established clear differences between public officials identified as electors and Georgia’s Republican electors.
Similarly, Willis claims McDaniel (pictured above, left) spoke to Trump and attorney John Eastman, who was also indicted by Willis and has faced disbarment proceedings over his work for the Trump campaign in 2020, about the Republican elector strategy. Prosecutors describe a phone call in which Eastman stressed “the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather ‘contingent’ electors” around the time of the December 14 meeting.
Unlike Hitt and McDaniel, Willis does not allege Jones was part of the plan to gather alternative Republican electors. Instead, the prosecutors note Chesebro and Jones were seen in close proximity on January 6, 2021, and claim Chesebro and Jones marched “on the Capitol” in “an attempt to disrupt and delay the January 6, 2021 joint session of Congress” as part of a criminal conspiracy. Attorney Norm Pattis, who represents Jones, told the media his client intends to fight the request, and said Jones would plead the Fifth if compelled to testify.
A joint case against Chesebro and Powell was severed from the greater indictment last month after the pro-Trump attorneys asserted their right to a speedy trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on October 20, with the trial to follow on October 23.
Willis previously revealed other high profile witnesses she intends to call through legal filings, including longtime Trump ally Boris Epshteyn, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffenseprger (R), and former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernie Kerik.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ronna McDaniel” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
