Experts say Trump's lawyer admitted one of the charges in election conspiracy case
Donald Trump's lawyer in the election conspiracy case, John Lauro, said Thursday that his client asked Mike Pence to "pause the voting" during the 2020 election, prompting legal experts to say Lauro essentially admitted to one of the charges on behalf of the former president.
Lauro made the comments on Newsmax, and made similar comments on other right-wing media outlets. The video of the Newsmax interview spread around online, causing MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance to say, "Sounds like a coup to me."
Washington, D.C., watchdog Citizens for Ethics also called out Lauro's comments from Newsmax and Fox News, saying, "This is... exactly what he's being accused of."
"Is his defense really 'I did it, but I could've done much worse things?" the group asked.
Tristan Snell, a former assistant attorney general in New York, said, "Did one of Trump's lawyers just ADMIT, on live TV, that Trump pushed Pence to delay the certification?"
"John Lauro's statement is likely admissible in court --- and he can now potentially be disqualified from representing Trump," Snell then added.
Former senior prosecutor for Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann, confirmed that assessment in an appearance on MSNBC Thursday. The host, Lawrence O'Donnell, read numerous of Lauro's statements and asked why someone would do such a thing. He also referred to the "unprofessionalism" of Lauro.
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Upon being played a video of the second description Lauro gave of Trump's orders to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, 2021, Weissmann added that the comments are "actually confirmatory and what we just heard Mike Pence say."