Trump lawyer John Lauro, CNN host Dana Bash clash over claim Biden involved in ex-president’s Jan. 6 indictment
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer accused the Biden administration of being involved in the latest criminal case against his predecessor — sparking an on-air clash with CNN host Dana Bash on Sunday.
The heated interview began with Bash asking attorney John Lauro if he’d agree to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s call on Friday for a judge to institute a protective order limiting what Trump, 77, and his team can share with the public about the case.
“This protective order that’s being suggested by the Biden administration is an effort to keep from the press important non-sensitive information that the Biden administration has that may speak to…,” Lauro began to answer.
That’s when Bash interjected: “This isn’t from the Biden administration.”
“Joe Biden said in November 2022 that he wanted to see President Trump prosecuted and taken out of this race,” Lauro shot back.
“I’m just going to stop you because there’s no evidence that Joe Biden is involved in this,” Bash stressed, again cutting Lauro off.
Lauro then argued that the public has a right to know what evidence the Justice Department has against Trump during the thick of the 2024 campaign season — in which the ex-president is polling ahead of his Republican rivals for the nomination.
He blasted the request for the protective order as an attack on Trump’s First Amendment rights.
Bash and Lauro proceeded to interrupt and talk over each other throughout the combative interview.
Washington DC federal court Judge Tanya Chutkan has given Trump’s legal team until Monday at 5 p.m. ET to reply to Smith’s call for the order, and denied a request for an extension from the defense.
Smith was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year, after Trump had launched his campaign for a third term in the Oval Office.
Trump was arraigned on a four-count indictment brought by Smith Thursday over his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty.
The day after the arraignment, Trump wrote, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” on his Truth Social page — a post Smith’s team cited in the protective order request.
Trump also derided Smith as “mentally ill” and denounced the charges against him as a “sham indictment,” in the Friday post.
Lauro largely sidestepped questions about the Truth Social missives, noting that he’s “not involved in the campaign.”
He also contended that Trump was using his First Amendment rights and following advice from lawyers.
“All of this played out in the open. It’s all free speech,” Lauro insisted. “There was a Supreme Court decision, Hammerschmidt, which is right on point that says when you’re exercising free speech, you’re not engaging in a fraud on the government.”
He later added, during a back-and-forth with Bash, that “President Trump was following the advice of his lawyer.”
In Hammerschmidt v. United States, the Supreme Court opined on the parameters for a conspiracy to defraud the US. The high court found in the 1924 decision that the charge mainly relates to attempts to swindle the government out of money or to obstruct its functions.
Lauro roundly rejected allegations in the crux of the indictment, underscoring “there no defrauding, there was no trickery” on Trump’s part.
At one point, he also downplayed Trump’s involvement in an alleged scheme to furnish an alternative set of electors before Congress when it was tasked with certifying the election on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The Senate parliamentarian acknowledged to Vice President Pence that they always receive protest alternative electors, none of those electors were counted,” Lauro said.
Trump and his allies allegedly put pressure on former Vice President Mike Pence to decertify the 2020 race under the pretenses that the election was “stolen” and that there was a dispute over it.
Allies of Trump allegedly encouraged battleground state officials to produce an alternative set of electors in hopes of tipping the election to the former president.
Ultimately, Pence refused to decertify the election, adamant that he lacked the constitutional authority to do so.
