Former President Donald Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, believes former Vice President Pence would strengthen Trump’s defense by testifying about Trump’s conduct ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
Lauro appeared Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” to talk about special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump and Pence’s criticism of his former boss. (RELATED: Trump Was Right Again And Again About The Biden Family’s Foreign Business Dealings)
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“What is it that you believe happened between the president and the vice president and do you have any fear of the vice president being called as a witness in the case?” asked CBS host Major Garrett.
“No. In fact, the vice president will be our best witness. What I said is the ultimate ask of Vice President Pence was to pause the count and allow the states to weigh in. That was my statement. And what I’ve said is consistent with what Vice President Pence is saying,” Lauro answered.
“He agrees that there were election irregularities, fraud, unlawful actions at the state level, all of that will eviscerate any allegations of criminal intent on the part of President Trump and, finally, what Vice President Pence believes and believed, is that these issues needed to be debated on January 6th. He openly called for all of these issues to be debated and objected to in the January 6th proceeding,” Lauro continued.
“Of course there was a constitutional disagreement between Vice President Pence and President Trump, but the bottom line is, never — never in our country’s history has those kinds of disagreements been prosecuted criminally. It’s unheard of,” he concluded.
Trump was indicted Tuesday for his apparent efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election and his alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The former president pleaded not guilty at a Thursday arraignment in Washington, D.C. and subsequently called the case “persecution.”
“This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary,” Trump said at D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. “Leading Biden by a lot. So if you can’t beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We can’t let this happen in America.”