Donald Trump said Sunday that it was “my decision” to believe the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” saying he did not respect the advisers and lawyers who had told him he had lost.
NBC’s Kristen Welker asked the former president, 77, on “Meet the Press” why he chose to ignore his “top lawyers” and campaign staff about the election results.
“Because I didn’t respect them,” Trump responded.
Welker later asked the Republican presidential primary frontrunner if he was “the ultimate decision maker?”
“As to whether or not he believed it was rigged? “Oh, sure,” Trump responded. “It was my decision. But I listened to some people.”
Trump currently faces four criminal cases, two of them related to his attempts to overturn his 2020 loss to President Biden. He continued to insist that the election was “rigged.”
Last month, Trump’s lawyer, John Lauro, publicly emphasized that his client’s actions to thwart the election results were done under the advice of an attorney.
“Everything President Trump did was with the advice of lawyers and advisors,” Lauro told NBC. “That is an absolute defense in a criminal case.”
“This is a protocol you can follow; it’s legal.”
Donald Trump faces four different accusations.MSNBC
Lauro cited several defenses against the criminal charges, including free speech, but also placed blame on Trump’s lawyers.
Trump’s comments on Sunday came during a back-and-forth after he was asked if he was “listening to the advice of his lawyers or if he was listening to his own instincts.”
“I was listening to different people. And when I added it all up, the election was rigged,” Trump responded earlier in the exchange.
The former president gave a speech on the White House Ellipse on January 6, 2021, just before the riots broke out.REUTERS
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has sought to undermine Trump’s First Amendment argument in court papers by focusing on alleged procedural violations.
“[Trump] “He had the right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there was no fraud that determined the outcome,” the indictment said.
But the indictment argued that Trump “sought illegal means to discount legitimate votes and subvert the election results.”
Trump was indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against law.
He also faces state charges in Georgia that also accuse him of illegally conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 state election.
Trump simply threw his entire “follow the advice of my lawyers” defense out the window.
No, let me correct that:
– not just under the bus but under a huge, roaring, fast-moving freight train. . . .
🚂🚆 🚊 🚂 https://t.co/FmHKgz6qIr
– Laurence Tribe 🇺🇦 ⚖️ (@tribelaw) September 17, 2023
In the case of the federal election result, the accusation focuses on a pressure campaign against then-Vice President Mike Pence to decertify the elections.
Prosecutors have also focused on an alternative slate of electors that Trump’s allies concocted to overturn his defeat.
At one point during the NBC interview, host Kristen Welker questioned Trump about why he was listening to some of his lawyers, including those he admitted had wild theories.
“Do you know who I listen to? Myself. “I saw what happened,” Trump explained.
“My instincts are a big part of this. That’s what has gotten me to where I am, my instincts. But I also listen to people,” she added later.
Legal experts who have publicly criticized Trump pounced on that segment of the wide-ranging interview.
“Trump just threw his entire ‘follow the advice of my lawyers’ defense out the window. No, let me correct that: not just under the bus but under a hulking, roaring, fast-moving freight train. . . .,” Harvard University professor emeritus Laurence Tribe posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“And this is where Trump loses the defense that he trusted his lawyers,” said attorney and former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.).
“There goes the ‘legal advice’ defense. Seriously, if your defense to these charges is ‘@MZHemingway wrote a book,’ you know you’re going to lose your case,” said national security lawyer Bradley Moss.
Also in that interview, Trump stated that he would be willing to testify in the separate 40-count Mar-a-Lago documents case pending against him.
Smith, who is leading the 2020 federal election and Mar-a-Lago cases, is known to dwell on Trump’s public comments.
Jack Smith has also charged about half a dozen other people in the election interference case. James Keivom
Donald Trump has strongly denied wrongdoing across the board. REUTERS
In August, for example, Smith cited Trump’s post on Truth Social in which he said, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.” Smith used that post to argue for a protective order, which prohibits Trump from sharing certain materials in the election case.
Last Friday, Smith escalated his demands in a court filing and sought a gag order narrowly tailored to impose limits on what Trump can say about the election interference case.
Trump, who remains by far the Republican Party’s favorite for 2024, has denounced the 91 charges against him as a “witch hunt” and electoral interference.
The former president is neck and neck with President Biden in a multitude of polls.MSNBC
He has denied wrongdoing across the board and apparently bristled at pressure to muzzle his public comments on criminal cases.
Trump’s lawyer had no immediate comment on his interview with NBC.
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