Trump’s legal team has started strategizing defense arguments, and the former president was briefed throughout at least two meetings over the summer, according to internal communications obtained by Rolling Stone. Nevertheless, the efforts became more urgent after blockbuster testimony from ex-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson regarding Trump’s attempts to join rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Members of the Trump legal team are quietly preparing, in the event charges are brought,” one person familiar with the situation explained to the outlet. “It would be career malpractice not to. Do the president’s attorneys believe everything Cassidy said? No. … Do they think the Department of Justice would be wise to charge him? No. But we’ve gotten to a point where if you don’t think criminal charges are at least somewhat likely, you are not serving the president’s best interests.”
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One legal defense being considered would shift accountability from Trump to his former advisers, with attorneys claiming the former president “got some terrible advice” from people who “should have or must have known better,” the sources announced. Another argument could hinge on freedoms protected under the First Amendment, such as the right to protest or freedom of speech.
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The defenses may be utilized in a DOJ investigation into Trump as part of the department’s larger criminal inquiry into attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The DOJ’s inquiry into Trump's moves was reported last week.
Prosecutors have started asking witnesses, including top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence, regarding conversations they had with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle, sources explained to the Washington Post. Over hours of interviews, witnesses have been asked questions about meetings Trump held in December 2020 and January 2021 to consider actions sought at overturning the election, as well as the former president’s pressure campaign on Pence to assist with that effort on Jan. 6, 2021.
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The DOJ has further got the phone records of top officials in the Trump administration, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, sources said. The investigation seeks to uncover what the former president explained to his attorneys and senior officials to do as part of their attempt to change the 2020 election outcome, and there are two other paths that could lead to further scrutiny of Trump, the sources said.
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One charge that could be levied against the former president is seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, similar to charges brought against people who were arrested after storming the Capitol. Another involves charging Trump with fraud in connection to the false electors plot or his efforts to pressure the DOJ to overturn the results of the election.
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