Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney under Donald Trump, dismissed new Trump attorney John Lauro’s claim that the former president was simply being “aspirational” with his attempts to pressure former US 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, claimed to CNN’s Dana Bash at the weekend.
On Monday, CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Cobb if that defence flies.
“Not at all,” he replied. “I’m not aware of the aspirational defence or the free speech defence 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 he believes some of Lauro’s comments will come back to haunt the Trump legal team.
Watch the interview here: