Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney under Donald Trump , dismissed new Trump defense lawyer John Lauro’s claim that the former president was simply being “aspirational” with his attempts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the 2020 election result.
“Asking is aspirational. Asking is not action. It’s core free speech,” Lauro, who is representing Trump against election conspiracy charges , told CNN ’s Dana Bash over the weekend .
On Monday, CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Cobb whether that’s an effective defense.
“Not at all,” Cobb replied. “I’m not aware of the aspirational defense or the free speech defense to a gang leader saying to two of his subordinates, ‘I need you two to please rob a bank for me,’ and they do it. That’s aspirational, but it leads to a crime and that’s exactly what Trump did with Pence.”
Cobb also explained how some of Lauro’s comments may come back to haunt the Trump legal team.
Watch the interview here:
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