The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Donna Robert
A lawyer defending Donald Trump against his third indictment related to the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election argued Sunday that his client’s actions may amount to a violation of the U.S. Constitution but not criminal law.
Attorney John Lauro disputed that former Vice President Mike Pence has said Mr. Trump asked him to act criminally by rejecting the election’s results.
“A technical violation of the Constitution is not a violation of criminal law,” Mr. Lauro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “That’s just plain wrong, and to say that is contrary to decades of legal statute.”
In addition to those charges, Mr. Trump has been charged in two other cases: one in Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving office at his Mar-a-Lago estate and one in New York for alleged campaign finance violations related to hush-money payments.
The 2024 Republican presidential candidate is also expected to face charges in Georgia for efforts to overturn that state’s 2020 election results.
Mr. Lauro said he believes the most recent case tied to the 2020 election “is going to be the most important civil rights and constitutional case in decades.”
“Everything that President Trump did was while he was in office, as a president,” he said. “He is now immune from prosecution for acts that he takes in connection with those policy decisions. The Biden administration has not addressed that.”
