Donald Trump’s former White House lawyer dismissed the defense put forth by the ex-president’s legal team as he stands charged with fraudulently attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
Ty Cobb joined CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday to talk about Trump’s threatening social media posts which prompted special counsel Jack Smith to seek out a protective order. The conversation turned to John Lauro’s claims that Trump didn’t pressure Mike Pence to aid him in his schemes, merely asked him to do so in an “aspirational” manner.
Cobb was “not at all” convinced by that argument, saying “I’m not aware of the aspirational defense.” He further characterized this as the free speech claims of “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,” Cobb said, “but it leads to a crime. And that’s exactly what Trump did with Pence.”
Cobb continued to bash Team Trump’s “false” talking points while casting doubt on Lauro’s ability to defend his client.
Cobb has taken a dim view of Trump’s legal defenses from the charges Smith has raised against him. On the case of Trump’s improper retention of classified documents, Cobb assessed that Smith’s prosecutors “have their foot on [Trump’s] neck” with the tape of him admitting his possession of those documents. As for the 2020 fraud and obstruction charges, Cobb previously said Trump “forced” the prosecution upon himself while casting doubt on his free speech defense claims.
Watch above via CNN.