Donald Trump’s defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to “pause” the certification.
Speaking on several Sunday morning news shows, Trump attorney John Lauro said Trump was within his First Amendment rights when he petitioned Pence to delay the certification on Jan. 6, 2021.“The ultimate ask of Vice President Pence was to pause the counts and allow the states to weigh in,” Lauro said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He added that Trump was convinced there were irregularities in the election that needed to be investigated by state authorities before the election could be certified.
Last week’s indictment chronicles how Trump and his allies, in what special counsel Jack Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the U.S. government,” repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured Pence and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power. Those efforts culminated on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop the certification.
“I cannot wait until I have the opportunity to cross examine Mr. Pence,” Lauro said. “He will completely eliminate any doubt that President Trump firmly believed that the election irregularities had led to an inappropriate result.” Lauro said Trump’s defense team will seek to move the case from Washington because it wants a more diverse jury. He said he would support televising the trial, and dismissed speculation that it could wrap up before the 2024 election.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
John Lauro confronted with Mike Pence's criticism of Donald Trump'A technical violation of the Constitution is not a violation of criminal law. That's just plain wrong,' Lauro said in his defense of Trump.
Read more »
Donald Trump's attacks on Mike Pence raise legal questions'Overall, Trump's online posts, while potentially helpful politically, do him no favors in the courtroom,' lawyer Aaron Parnas told Newsweek.
Read more »
Trump lawyer welcomes Pence testifying in Jan. 6 trial, won't say if Trump will tooFormer Pres. Trump's attorney on ThisWeekABC welcomed former Vice Pres. Pence potentially testifying at Trump's future trial related to his push to overturn the 2020 election -- but Trump's lawyer wouldn't discuss if Trump will do the same.
Read more »
Pence, Trump attorney clash over what Trump told his VP ahead of Jan. 6, 2021Donald Trump's defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election.
Read more »
Pence, Trump attorney clash over what Trump told his VP ahead of Jan. 6, 2021Donald Trump’s defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to “pause” …
Read more »
Pence, Trump attorney offer conflicting claims over what Trump said ahead of Jan. 6Pence's role in certifying Joe Biden's win over Trump in the 2020 election makes him a central figure in the prosecution against Trump
Read more »