Indictment of 'America's Chaplain' in Georgia election case spurs questions about evidence

Rev. Stephen Lee, also known as “America’s Chaplain,” was surprised when he heard the news that he was indicted in the Fulton County 2020 election case along with former President Donald Trump and 17 others. A judge in Illinois had previously quashed a subpoena from District Attorney Fani Willis for Lee because the judge held that there was insufficient evidence that he was a material witness in the case to justify the subpoena.

Lee, Trump, and 17 others were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on Aug. 14, concluding D.A. Willis’ two-plus year's long investigation into an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election. All defendants turned themselves in to the Fulton County jail by the deadline of noon on Aug. 25 to be processed, then chose to not appear for their arraignments last Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. 

Lee has been indicted on five counts in the Fulton County case: Violation of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; Two counts of criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses; Conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings: and influencing witnesses. 

The last four counts claim that these actions were committed against Ruby Freeman, who was a Fulton County election worker during the 2020 general election. Freeman sued former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani for libel, regarding what he claimed was election fraud at the State Farm Arena. Giuliani conceded to making "false" and "defamatory" statements about Freeman, losing the lawsuit by default last month. 

The second and third charges against Rev. Lee allege that he attempted to contact Freeman by visiting her house in December 2020. The last two charges allege that Lee was involved in contacting Freeman in January 2021. However, Lee’s attorney, Dave Shestokas, told Just the News on Thursday that the reverend never spoke with Freeman. 

“Strangely enough, he never talks to her, he never even spoke to her,” Shestokas said of Lee and Freeman. “So it's pretty difficult to engage in that activity if you never even actually talk to somebody.” 

Shestokas also explained that Lee was completely unaware he was being considered for an indictment. 

“I was astonished, and I know the reverend was astonished,” Shestokas said, when they found out on Aug. 15 that Lee was being indicted, after the indictments were issued late the night before. “And so, we didn't know about it until the 15th and at that juncture, [Willis] had a press conference.” 

Shestokas added that neither he nor Lee were served the indictment in written form and that they didn't receive a notice to appear or a summons for the indictment. He claims that they only found out about the Aug. 25 deadline to surrender from Willis' press conference. Shestokas said he had to arrange a meeting with local counsel and a prosecutor regarding the bond because no one reached out to him or his client.

The Fulton County district attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. 

Shestokas said that “the potential penalty for the reverend, if he were to be convicted, is a minimum mandatory five years in Georgia State Prison.” 

He also noted that in November 2022, the Fulton County grand jury sent a subpoena to the court in Kendall County, Ill., where Lee lives, to compel him to testify before the grand jury. The judge held hearings to determine if the subpoena should be enforced and found “that there was not evidence to find that Reverend Lee was a material witness in the case in Georgia,” Shestokas said. 

The judge told the Fulton County grand jury, “you have 30 days if you'd like to provide additional evidence to convince me that you need his testimony. They never did. They never sent any more evidence and never made any other effort,” Shestokas added. 

According to the docket sheet under case 22MR69 from the Kendall County court for the court hearings for Lee, it says, “COURT FINDS STERPHEN [sic] CLIFFORD LEE IS NOT A MATERIAL WITNESS BASED ON THE FACTS IN THE JUDGES CERTIFICATE.” 

Lee is known as “America’s Chaplain” for being “a critical incident responder at many major crises,” according to his bio, including activities at 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and mass shootings at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Las Vegas.

Lee's bio also notes that he “is a former California peace officer who has served as a patrol officer, juvenile officer, corrections officer, SWAT sergeant (helped form SWAT unit) and major crimes investigator, and as an NIS (now NCIS) foreign counterintelligence and counterterrorism federal special agent.” 

Shestokas said that over the last 30 years, Lee "has been at just about every kind of chaotic incident of critical significance that's happened in America. And I would suggest to you that it was pretty chaotic in Georgia, among other places, in the aftermath of the 2020 election. So it's not unusual to find him in a place like that."

Lee told Just the News on Thursday regarding the indictment, “This is just absolutely stunning and shocking, and horrible that they would come after me as a criminal with a felony indictment. Me, who I've always supported the rule of law and the Constitution and all of that, and to be on the other side of it.” 

Lee is retired but is a pastor of a small Lutheran church, which he noted, “if something were to happen to me, I really worry that they would not have a pastor.” 

Shestokas explained that the indictment includes “161 overt acts that are supposedly part of this criminal conspiracy,” but that 159 of them “are all conduct protected by the First Amendment in one way, shape, or form.” 

He also said that this week he filed a motion for a bill of particulars to find out what specific actions Lee took that were allegedly illegal. Shestokas additionally filed a motion for severance, to separate Lee’s trial from the rest of the defendants because he doesn’t believe the reverend can get a fair trial with the other defendants. He said that they are awaiting a response. 

Democrats, such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), whose district includes part of Fulton County, have praised the Fulton County indictment against Trump. 

"The DA laid out a very, very strong case that Donald Trump violated the law," Schumer said. 

"This is day for our democracy,” Williams said. “We should never be in a situation where a former president is criminally charged with an attempt to overturn the election. We showed that in Fulton County, we apply the law equally to everyone, even failed former presidents. We're starting to hold Donald Trump accountable in courts." 

Shestokas told Just the News, “the folks that are cheering this on, for whatever reason, if they don't like Donald Trump, for whatever reason, or they think that you know, he's horrible, they should understand that if this case is successful in any way, shape, or form, their own personal civil rights have been diminished."

"This case is a danger to all Americans ... obviously, it's an incredible danger to the folks that have been indicted. But is a danger not just to them, it’s a danger to all of us. And folks that are cheering this on are cheering on the wiping out of their own civil rights,” Shestokas continued.

Shestokas said that discovery is scheduled for Oct. 6 but no hearing date for the motion to severance has been assigned yet.