The first codefendant in Donald Trump’s Georgia criminal case has shown signs of turning on him, claiming that he was only following the former president’s orders when he took part in the election interference plot.
David Shafer, the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and a longtime member of the Georgia state Senate, claimed in a court filing on Monday that he merely “acted at the direction of the incumbent President and other federal officials”.
“Attorneys for the President and Mr. Shafer specifically instructed Mr. Shafer, verbally and in writing, that the Republican electors’ meeting and casting their ballots on December 14, 2020 was consistent with counsels’ advice and was necessary to preserve the presidential election contest,” the filing states.
Mr Shafer is also seeking to have the criminal case moved to federal court.
His filing suggests that he – and potentially others – could turn on the former president in the case.
Mr Shafer is one of 19 defendants charged with running a criminal enterprise to keep Mr Trump in power at all costs.
He is charged with eight counts over his part in the scheme where he allegedly played a pivotal role in the fake electors plot in the state.
According to the indictment, Mr Shafer convened 16 fake electors in the Georgia state capitol on 14 December 2020 to sign a certificate falsely declaring Mr Trump as the winner of the state.
Mr Shafer surrendered to authorities on Georgia in the early hours of Wednesday morning to...
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