By David Thomas
(Reuters) - An appeals court on Thursday indefinitely suspended the New York law license of Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign, after he pleaded guilty last year to a charge stemming from efforts to overturn Trump's defeat in Georgia.
Chesebro pleaded guilty in October 2023 to conspiracy to commit filing of false documents in Fulton County, Georgia, after prosecutors accused him of crafting the legal strategy behind a scheme to use alternate electors to circumvent Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 victory in the state.
Chesebro's conduct "categorically meets the definition of a serious crime in this state," New York's Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department said in its suspension ruling.
The court rejected Chesebro's arguments that the Georgia case was not over and ordered him to explain why it should not issue a final order of disbarment or another sanction. It said Chesebro had no active law license outside New York.
Chesebro and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chesebro has defended his work with the Trump campaign and denied violating New York professional conduct rules.
A New York attorney disciplinary official deferred comment to the court.
Trump, the Republican candidate in the Nov. 5 presidential election, has continued to assert false claims that the 2020 race was rigged. Other lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, have also faced charges and lost their law licenses for their election-related legal work on Trump's behalf.
Trump and his allies sought to overturn his 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden in part by convincing Republican-controlled state legislatures to name their own Trump-friendly electors or refuse to name any electors, according to the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Chesebro wrote legal memos backing the alternate elector strategy, the committee's final report said.