Donald Trump’s lawyer, John Lauro, said the indictment brought against the former president for conspiring to seize a second term after losing the 2020 election was an attack on "free speech" and "political speech."
"This is an attack on free speech and political advocacy. And there's nothing that's more protected under the First Amendment than political speech," Lauro said on CNN Tuesday evening. "Our defense is going to be focusing on the fact that what we have now is an administration that has criminalized the free speech and advocacy of a prior administration during the time that there's a political election going on. That's unprecedented."
He also said that Trump may enter lengthy court proceedings on the indictment, handed down from special counsel Jack Smith, in the midst of what he depicted as politically motivated investigations.
“I can see it lasting nine months or a year, but Mr. Trump is entitled to a defense. The government has had three years to investigate this, and now they want to rush this to trial in the middle of a political season,” Lauro said. “For the government to have three years to do it and then expect us to do it in three weeks or four weeks is just ridiculous.”
Federal prosecutors charged Trump with four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The indictment also accused Trump of trying to exploit the violent Jan. 6, 2021 assault on Congress to continue his effort to cling to power.
Lauro said that Trump would show up either in person or virtually to his Thursday arraignment, depending on what the judge asked. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington, D.C., an appointee of Barack Obama, is the judge assigned in the case.
Lauro, who joined Trump's legal team in July, reiterated the defense that all federal investigations and indictments brought against the former president are politically motivated, especially as he leads the GOP presidential field.
The attorney said Tuesday evening on Fox that he wants to see the prosecution “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump believed that these allegations were false,” pointing toward changes in election procedures during the pandemic and the president’s legal counsel at the time.
“It's really an astounding document because for the first time in American history, a former president is being prosecuted by a political opponent who wields the power of the criminal justice system for what he believed in and the policies and the political speech that he carried out as president,” Lauro said on Fox. “This is unprecedented. It affects not just Donald Trump — it affects every American who now realizes that the First Amendment is under assault.”
Christine Mui contributed to this report.
