'Cross the line': Lawyer for architect of fake electors scheme urges 'caution' to Trump attorneys

Yet another Donald Trump-related election interference case rocked Trump World when, on Wednesday, April 24, Democratic Arizona Attorney Kris Mayes announced the indictment of 18 people who tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 presidential election results in her state — including 11 of the "fake electors" along with ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Jenna Ellis. Trump himself, however, is not indicated, although he is listed as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Following Mayes' announcement, former Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson — a conservative Republican who became a key witness for the January 6 Select Committee and is supporting President Joe Biden in this year's presidential election — appeared on CNN and warned members of her party that doing unscrupulous things on Trump's behalf can bring harsh legal consequences.

Now, a lawyer representing an architect of the 2020 "fake electors" scheme is warning Trump's 2024 lawyers to proceed with "caution" in light of Mayes' case.

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Manny Arora, who represents attorney Kenneth Chesebro — one of the defendants in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' election interference/RICO case — told the New York Times, "There will be more caution on the part of the lawyers…. While we all agree that there's no chance in the world the cases will be resolved prior to the election, it would be nice to have the cases resolved so we can have some clear guidance as to what does and what doesn't cross the line."

In an article published on April 26, New York Times reporters Danny Hakim and Richard Fausset note that between Mayes' case and similar ones, "53 people who tried to keep former President Donald J. Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election have now been criminally charged."

"The message (Mayes) and other prosecutors are sending represents a warning as Mr. Trump and his supporters continue to spread election conspiracy theories ahead of another presidential contest: that disrupting elections can bear a heavy legal cost," Hakim and Fausset explain. "Mr. Trump's own legal complications are also growing. On Wednesday, (April 24), he was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in election interference investigations in both Arizona and Michigan."

The reporters add, "(Trump) has already been charged in Georgia while facing two federal prosecutions and a criminal trial in Manhattan related to hush money payments made to a porn star. What's more, Mr. Trump's top legal strategist, Boris Epshteyn, was indicted in Arizona on Wednesday."

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Hakim and Fausset note that if Trump defeats President Joe Biden in November and returns to the White House in January 2025, he could "use his executive powers to halt the two federal cases against him."

Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University in New York City and a former federal prosecutor, told the Times, "I assume, should these constitutional concerns about putting Trump on trial while president play out, there would be efforts to sever the other defendants, and no reason for the trials as to those defendants not to proceed."

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Read The New York Times' full report at this link (subscription required).