Trump lawyer argues January 6 indictment criminalizes speechDonald Trump’s attorney John Lauro appeared on NBC’s Today show, and gave a few hints of the former president’s legal strategy in defending against the indictment he faces for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Lauro first indicated that he objects to special counsel Jack Smith’s push to hold the trial in 90 days, calling it “absurd”:
One of former President Trump’s attorney’s John Lauro speaks about the indictment and the timing of the trial.
“To take President Trump to trial in 90 days, of course, is absurd. The question is why do they (the special counsel) wanna do that,” Lauro told @SavannahGuthrie. pic.twitter.com/WXzSTpii3F
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 2, 2023Smith made a similar attempt with the charges he filed against Trump over the Mar-a-Lago documents, but a federal judge has now pushed that trial to May 2024.
Lauro also indicated that he planned to argue Smith was putting Trump on trial over his speech, which would go against the first amendment:
.@SavannahGuthrie: The indictment specifically says that the President has a first amendment right to speech, he even has a first amendment right to lie. (…) This indictment is criminalizing conduct, not speech.
Lauro: No, it’s criminalizing speech (…) pic.twitter.com/VAo3jCFvwL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 2, 2023