ATLANTA — 11Alive is publishing online stories about key figures in Fulton County's 2020 election investigation. These people have been asked to testify, are targets of the investigation, or could be indicted as part of the probe.
Donald Trump’s attempts to keep a hold of the presidency after the 2020 election were fought on several fronts — including Georgia’s courtrooms and inside the state capitol.
Attorneys representing the former president did a lot of the talking. Among the most well-known of the bunch was former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but other Trump lawyers also caught the attention of Fulton County prosecutors.
John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Cleta Mitchell, Jenna Ellis, and Kenneth Chesebro were all asked to testify before the special purpose grand jury investigating whether Trump and his allies criminally interfered in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Each of the attorneys played a role in attempting to overturn Joe Biden’s victory here and in other battleground states, according to court filings and other documents.
Who is John Eastman?
Eastman — a former dean of Chapman University’s law school and a former law clerk of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — was involved in several post-election plans in battleground states.
Most revolved around slates of presidential electors to the Electoral College. Fulton County prosecutors outlined the allegations against Eastman in a court document seeking the lawyer’s testimony.
At a Georgia Senate hearing on Dec. 3, 2020, Eastman told lawmakers that they had the authority and “duty” to replace the state’s slate of Democratic electors citing widespread voter fraud. Georgia election officials repeatedly debunked those claims.
Eastman’s plans were not solely focused on Georgia.
He sent at least two memos to the Trump campaign and others detailing a plan where then-Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to count some of Biden’s Electoral College votes. Eastman spoke with Pence and his staff about the plan, but the vice president rejected it, according to court filings.
Eastman testified before the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury in August 2022.
NBC News reported that Eastman invoked the Fifth Amendment and attorney-client privilege during his testimony.
“In his appearance before the Fulton County special grand jury, we advised our client John Eastman to assert attorney client privilege and the constitutional right to remain silent where appropriate,” Eastman attorneys Charles Burnham and Harvey Silverglate said in their statement. “Out of respect for grand jury secrecy, we will not disclose the substance of the questions or testimony. We wish to thank the grand jurors for their service.”
Eastman is facing disbarment in California over his efforts to assist Trump following the election.
Who is Sidney Powell?
Powell, a former federal prosecutor, joined the legal team formed to challenge the 2020 election results on Trump’s behalf.
The Fulton County DA’s Office said in a court filing that Powell and others attended a meeting hosted by attorney L. Lin Wood at a South Carolina plantation “for the purpose of exploring options to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.”
Wood told MSNBC in an interview that Powell asked him to find plaintiffs for potential Georgia election lawsuits. She continued to file lawsuits in battleground states even after being dropped by the Trump campaign.
(Wood — best known for representing Richard Jewell, the security guard falsely accused in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing — also litigated cases on Trump’s behalf. Facing disbarment in Georgia over the election lawsuits, Wood surrendered his law license and retired.)
Powell was also involved in the alleged election data breach in Coffee County, Georgia, according to a court filing seeking her testimony. Powell coordinated with Atlanta-based forensic data firm SullivanStrickler to allegedly copy the data.
Video obtained by CNN shows former Cathy Latham, a former Coffee County GOP chairwoman and fake Trump elector, escorting operatives working with Powell through the county’s election office in early January 2021.
Powell allegedly took part in similar efforts in Nevada and Michigan, according to Fulton County court documents.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office are investigating the Coffee County allegations.
Powell was supposed to testify before Fulton County’s Special Purpose Grand Jury in September, but she didn’t appear.
Who is Cleta Mitchell?
Mitchell, a former member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, challenged election results in several battleground states. She was a key figure in Trump’s legal orbit during and after the 2020 election. She recruited Eastman to help with the cause.
She also took part in the call that launched the Fulton County election investigation.
Mitchell spoke during the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In a recording of the call, Mitchell complains that she requested voting records from Raffensperger’s office but hadn’t received them.
Mitchell resigned from D.C. law firm Foley & Lardner as a result of the call, NPR reported.
Who is Jenna Ellis?
Ellis, who began working for Trump in November 2019, also attended the Dec. 3, 2020, Georgia Senate hearing where Trump allies claimed voter fraud handed the election to Biden.
State election officials debunked those claims, but Ellis continued to push claims of voter fraud, according to Fulton County prosecutors.
Ellis also authored two memos sent to Trump and others stating that Pence should ignore electoral college votes from certain battleground states, including Georgia.
Who is Kenneth Chesebro?
Chesebro, a little-known attorney, was a central figure in the plot to have Trump supporters pose as presidential electors in battleground states.
In testimony to the Jan. 6 committee, Chesebro said his work with the Trump campaign began after the election in Wisconsin. He started on Nov. 9, 2020, and on Nov. 18, Chesebro sent the first known memo outlining a plan involving alternate Trump electors, the New York Times reports.
His work eventually branched out from Wisconsin to other states.
Fulton County prosecutors allege that Chesebro worked with the leadership of the Georgia Republican Party, including then-chairman David Shafer, to have 16 Republicans meet at the Georgia State Capitol to cast Electoral College ballots falsely claiming that Trump won the election.
Chesebro worked directly with Giuliani as part of the plan, according to a Fulton County court filing seeking Chesebro’s testimony before a special purpose grand jury.
The 16 Republicans were persons of interest in the Fulton election investigation, and at least half of them have accepted immunity deals, court records show.
The two regular grand juries that could indict Trump and his allies were sworn in last week. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said potential indictments would come before Sept. 1.
However, Willis has hinted that charging decisions will likely come between July 31 and Aug. 18.