- Net worth
- Unknown
- Crimes
- fake electors, obstruction, other
- Convicted of
- Preemptive pardon for potential federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election; pleaded guilty in Georgia to conspiracy to commit filing false documents
- Original sentence
- Five years' probation; $5,000 restitution; 100 hours community service (Georgia state case, October 2023)
- Time served
- N/A
Background
Kenneth Chesebro is a disbarred attorney from Wisconsin Rapids who became known as the architect of the Trump fake electors scheme. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1986, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and was classmates with Elena Kagan. After law school, he clerked for U.S. district judge Gerhard Gesell and worked on progressive causes for decades, including serving as part of Al Gore's legal team in 2000. Starting in 2016, he shifted to supporting Republicans.
The Case
Chesebro was never federally charged or convicted, but he received a preemptive federal pardon from President Trump in November 2025 as part of a batch of 77 pardons for allies involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was described as "full, complete, and unconditional" but was largely symbolic since presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes and Chesebro had no federal convictions.
Chesebro orchestrated the fake electors plot, floating the idea the day after major media outlets called the 2020 election for Biden. He wrote memos beginning in November 2020 detailing how alternate electors from key states could cast votes for Trump despite him losing those states. He drafted paperwork for participating states, coordinated execution of the plan, attended the fake electors' meeting in Wisconsin, and traveled to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021 to attempt to deliver ballots to Mike Pence.
In August 2023, Chesebro was indicted in Georgia alongside Trump and 17 others. On October 20, 2023, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit filing false documents, accepting five years of probation, $5,000 restitution, 100 hours of community service, and agreeing to testify against Trump and other defendants. He was disbarred in New York on June 26, 2025, suspended in Washington D.C. on September 25, 2025, and disbarred in Illinois on November 19, 2025. Wisconsin charged him with additional felonies in 2024. The federal pardon does not affect his Georgia state conviction or Wisconsin charges.
The Pardon
On November 9, 2025, President Trump granted Chesebro a full pardon along with 76 other allies tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was issued preemptively, before any federal charges were filed. The proclamation covered conduct "relating to the advice, creation, organization, execution, submission, support, voting, activities, participation in, or advocacy for or of any slate or proposed slate of Presidential electors" in connection with the 2020 election.