Atlanta-based attorney Bob Cheeley refused a plea deal offered by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her racketeering case against former President Donald Trump, his lawyer confirmed in a Thursday statement to CNN.
“To say that we are currently in discussions with the DA’s office would be an inaccurate representation of what is going on,” Cheeley’s attorney, Richard Rice, told the outlet. “They made us an offer some time ago and we declined it.”
Cheeley (pictured above) was charged with 10 counts in Willis’ sweeping racketeering indictment against Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election. Also, Cheeley is accused of being involved in a conspiracy to pass off Republican Electoral College electors as public officials. He entered a not-guilty plea at this arraignment. Cheeley and Trump both have their first hearing in Fulton County Superior Court scheduled on December 1.
In addition to aiding Trump’s 2020 contest of Georgia’s election results, Cheeley was approved by a Georgia court to audit the 2020 absentee ballots of Fulton County in 2021. Cheeley claimed his audit discovered double-counting and double-scanning of Fulton County ballots, which he said “violates the basic principle of our democracy” and “smacks the very heart of our democracy by undermining the will of the people.”
Cheeley is the lead attorney in an ongoing lawsuit seeking external review for Fulton County’s absentee ballots from the 2020 election. That suit, filed by VoterGA’s Garland Favorito, conservative activist Caroline Jeffords, and seven other defendants, was revived in May after a Georgia Supreme Court decision allowed it to go forward. Cheeley celebrated the news as “a huge win, not only for the people of Georgia, but for the people of the United States.”
News that he refused a plea deal comes after four of the original 19 defendants accepted plea deals from Willis. These include bail bondsman Scott Hall and lawyers Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jenna Ellis, who each secured significant reductions in charges and zero jail time in exchange for probation, restitution or fines, apology letters to Georgia, and cooperation in future trials.
Many analysts have suggested Willis’ recent string of accepted plea deals indicates she is building momentum for her trial against Trump, though others have noted the substance of the plea deals and first-offender status of the recipients may indicate weakness in the state’s case.
The cable news network also indicated Willis has discussed potential plea deals with at least five other defendants, including former Coffee County elections supervisor Misty Hampton and former Trump campaign official Mike Roman. The outlet did not report the status of any of these discussions, nor did it name the other three defendants they claim are discussing plea deals.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bob Cheeley” by Bob Cheeley.
