一名被控与他人合谋试图推翻2020年佐治亚州总统选举结果的奥兰多公园牧师表示，他不打算接受认罪协议，但他的律师表示，进行审判可能会非常昂贵。
斯蒂芬·克利夫加德·李牧师是奥兰多公园生活世界路德教会的牧师，他于8月在乔治亚州法院与前总统唐纳德·特朗普一起被起诉。
他面临的重罪指控包括敲诈勒索、影响证人以及共谋征求虚假陈述和写作。一些被告随后认罪，李的律师正试图将牧师的指控与其他被告分开审理。
周四，在Channahon教会“信仰家庭事工”(Families of Faith Ministries)举行的一场筹款活动上，李振成坚决表示，他不会像其他一些被告一样，试图达成一项认罪协议，以减轻对他的惩罚。他说，如果罪名成立，他将在乔治亚州监狱面临至少五年的监禁。
“我不会为谎言辩护，”他对大约70名支持者说。“我不会与邪恶合作。这比我还重要。”
他的法律团队包括芝加哥地区的律师David Shestokas，他在筹款活动上发言说，如果李在审判期间必须在乔治亚州呆几个月，他的费用(不包括律师费)可能在15万美元左右。如果他的案子被切断，这笔费用可能会少一些。
“这就是说‘无罪’的代价，”舍斯托卡斯说。
舍斯托卡斯是前库克县助理州检察官，她正在与乔治亚州的律师大卫·奥尔斯一起处理此案，他们正在等待他们的客户是否会被单独审判。
如果所有被告都被一起审判，舍斯托卡斯说，像选择陪审团这样简单的事情——案件双方都有这么多律师参与——可能需要几个月的时间。
舍斯托卡斯认为，李被指控的许多犯罪行为都是受宪法第一修正案保护的行为，包括言论自由、集会自由和宗教自由。
该筹款活动的项目名为“政府对抗宗教的武器化”，李的支持者将起诉描述为对宪法和宗教自由的攻击。程序提供了向李的辩护基金捐款的信息。
71岁的李说:“我们每个人都必须奋起反抗。”
舍斯托卡斯说，他的当事人受到的是敲诈，“他不应该受到敲诈。”
“利害攸关的不仅仅是李牧师，”舍斯托卡斯说。“这是对我们宪法第一修正案中所有权利的攻击。”
根据一本传记，李自2019年以来一直是活言的牧师，2012年至2019年在伯班克圣三一路德教会担任牧师。
在1988年至1992年就读印第安纳州韦恩堡神学院之前，李拥有广泛的执法背景，包括在加利福尼亚州担任警长和海军情报局特工，同时也住在加利福尼亚州。
1999年4月20日，科伦拜恩高中发生枪击案，12名学生和一名教师被杀。案发时，李住在科罗拉多州的科罗拉多斯普林斯，当时他是联邦烟酒枪械和爆炸物管理局的首席牧师。
“It was two or three days of pretty intense work,” Lee told supporters at the fundraiser.
He said he has been married to his wife, Elaine, for 46 years, and they have four adult children and seven grandchildren.
Lee said he had retired from the ministry, and has been at Living Word while the church tries to find a permanent replacement. He said it is a small church and “they are fully supportive of their pastor through all of this.”
He had been subpoenaed to testify before a Fulton County grand jury in Georgia regarding the election case, and Lee said that after his years of law enforcement, he found himself on the other side of the coin.
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“I thought ‘what in the world are they doing here?’” he said. “I didn’t know where to turn.”
He contacted Shestokas, and a judge in Kendall County — Lee lives in Montgomery, near Aurora — ruled in November of last year that Fulton County had not presented sufficient evidence to support calling him to Georgia to testify before the grand jury, according to Shestokas.
The indictment includes Lee because of an interaction between him and an election worker named Ruby Freeman in December 2020.
The indictment states Lee knocked on Freeman’s door and spoke to her neighbor “with intent to knowingly engage in misleading conduct toward Ruby Freeman, by purporting to offer her help, and with intent to influence her testimony.”
Freeman was the subject of scrutiny from Trump and others over allegations she altered voting results. In March, these allegations were “found to have no merit” according to a report released by the Georgia secretary of state’s office, which conducted an investigation that elicited the help of several agencies including the FBI.
Fundraiser attendees were provided with options for donating, including cash contributions, scanning a QR code on the programs and going to a website to donate. A preliminary tally as to what was raised was not immediately available Friday.
Originally Published:
Nov 10, 2023 at 12:17 pm
