Donald Trump’s lawyer John Lauro stopped by Dana Bash’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning and made it clear that when it comes to the numerous allegations against his client, he is only interested in touting the former president’s version of reality. Bash asked about Trump using terms like “deranged” and “mentally ill” to describe special counsel Jack Smith.
“As his attorney in this criminal case, do you want your client to stop speaking publicly like this? Using terms like that,” Bash said.
Lauro’s response? Pivot to President Biden.
He replied, “This case was brought by the Biden administration in the middle of a political campaign, and with the realization that people are out there campaigning for office. I’m not involved in the campaign, I’m involved in representing Mr. Trump in a criminal proceeding.”
Bash, continuing her line of questioning about Trump’s repeated verbal tirades against Smith, tried again. “Totally understand, you are not his campaign manager, you are his lawyer,” she clarified. “As his lawyer, would you want a client to say things like this about the special counsel?”
Lauro again pivoted. He said, “One thing that we are going to do is fight this very, very unusual, outside of the bounds, criminal prosecution of First Amendment rights vigorously in court. My focus is on addressing the issues.”
He continued, “One of the issues that the Biden administration will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that Donald Trump had corrupt intent, had criminal intent, when he protested the results of the 2020 election. That’s core freedom of speech … which is protected under our Constitution.”
At this point, Bash opted to simply move the conversation along. Watch the interview, including Lauro’s claim that Trump advocated for a peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election, in the video above.
