Conspiracy theorist, RNC chairwoman to testify during trial of 2 former Pres. Trump co-defendants

Prosecutors have named two witnesses they intend to call for testimony in the Georgia election interference trial of two of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants.

Documents filed on Tuesday indicate Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones are “necessary and material witnesses” in the trial set to begin later this month.

Sidney Powell, a former attorney for the former president, and Kenneth Chesebro, a former Department of Justice official, had their cases severed from the other 17 defendants and filed motions requesting speedy trials.

Their trial is set to begin on October 23.

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Chesebro came to Atlanta for a motions hearing Tuesday where his attorneys argued that he simply gave legal advice, not commit a crime.

His attorneys contend you can’t prosecute someone for legal advice even if that advice is wrong.

This is the first time Chesebro attended one of his pretrial hearings. The Jan. 6 Commission said Chesebro was one of the legal architects for the false or alternate electors scheme.

Powell allegedly coordinated with SullivanStrickler, an Atlanta data company, to obtain breached elections data from Coffee County, Ga., in Jan. 2021. Local election officials reportedly gave the group access to equipment that was meant to be protected.

SullivanStrickler billed Powell more than $26,000 for its work which also included attempts to access similar election data in Antrim County, Michigan, and Clark County, Nevada. State investigators called it “criminal behavior.”

Powell also allegedly tasked people with identifying Georgia residents who could serve as plaintiffs in suits contesting Georgia’s election results.

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Prosecutors say McDaniel was part of a December 2020 phone call with former Pres. Trump where she was told “the importance of the RNC helping the campaign gather ‘contingent’ electors.” She also forwarded an email to the then-president’s executive assistant including a list of “Six Contested States,” including Georgia and the electoral votes that had been cast for Trump in each one, prosecutors wrote.

Jones participated in a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Georgia state Capitol on Nov. 18, 2020, and in a march on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, along with members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, prosecutors said in a court filing. Video shows Chesebro marching on the U.S. Capitol with Jones, prosecutors wrote.

Norm Pattis, an attorney for Jones, said his client intends to resist the subpoena and would assert his Fifth Amendment right if called to testify.

A trial date has not been set for the other 17 defendants, including the former president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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