Much of Donald Trump’s legal strategy in his federal 2020 election interference case has, so far, centered around trying to delay the start of his March trial until after the November presidential election.

But in recent court filings, and according to sources familiar with the Trump team’s approach, other defense strategies have emerged – namely of absolving Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, of responsibility for the US Capitol attack and positioning him as a victim of disinformation and overzealous government investigators.

Two under-the-radar court filings from Trump’s team in late November offered the clearest glimpse yet into what the former president’s lawyers may try to argue before a jury in the historic case. The filings say that his lawyers hope during the trial to point to people in the federal government he suspects are biased toward him, to foreign influence, and to election disinformation that led him to believe the 2020 contest was stolen.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    If Trump is so innocent of all of these charges, why is he so afraid of going in front of a jury of his peers?

    • EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website
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      6 months ago

      I can’t wait for him to demand the jury be entirely ex presidents as those are his peers, then call for a mistrial because there are only 4 jurors (excluding Biden as current president).

        • Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de
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          6 months ago

          If a VP got to pick a new VP without needing the house and Senate, Harris could potentially then pick a VP, then resign as well, to help fill the jury pool, this could happen several times, and would be comical.

  • Szymon@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    So standing on a pulpit and telling his passionate terrorists supporters to march to the Capitol building, all while hearing them chant “Hang Mike Pence”, isn’t direct evidence of his responsibility for the actions of the crowd he enabled?

  • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    This is something I have yet to even understand. And before anybody says it, I already know. It’s Trump. Things like logic, consistency, intelligence, and education don’t apply. I get it.

    But one thing Trump keeps hammering: These people can’t prosecute him because they’re Democrats. Or their long-lost cousin once donated $10 to a Democrat back in 1968. The Judges can’t rule against him because they’re Democrats. Or they’re Hispanic. Juries can’t judge him if they’re from blue districts, because that would be biased.

    This is coming from a guy who in some cases literally appointed the judge overseeing the fucking case. He literally got to pick his own judge, and he’s complaining about bias. Give me a god damned fucking break already. If Cannon were appointed by Biden, Trump would be having a nuclear meltdown over it. But I guess when she literally puts into her legal briefs that Trump really should be above the law, I guess that’s perfectly fair.

    I really hate this fucking timeline.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      6 months ago

      You already know so it’s not worth diving deep into it, but yes, he’ll say literally anything if it serves him in some way. What’s more infuriating is having morons parrot it back to you with not one iota of thought occuring…

      Can’t have a Democrat judge you because bias, can have a self appointed judge on your case because “Trump is smart and picks good people that are trustworthy.” Yeah that tracks…

      No collision or coordination with a foreign government, that’s hogwash and political misinformation, but if it happened it’s A Good Thing™ to be on Putin’s good side. Oh but Biden definitely worked with the Chinese and that’s bad…

      I do it with my dad all the time as a “joke.” “Hey dad did you hear about how Obama would have Anderson Cooper on voice calls when discussing important thing with his staff? You say that’s terrible and he should be ashamed? Sorry I lied it was actually Trump and Lou Dobbs. Ohh Dobbs is respectable so now it’s ok? Right, got it.”

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      He literally got to pick his own judge, and he’s complaining about bias.

      Yes maybe now you get how tough it is to be Trump, even his own people are biased against him. Sometimes his fingers are biased against him, and his brain too. That’s why he says one thing and the next moment he says something else. But the worst part is, that reality is so very strongly biased against him too, that’s why he chooses to live most of his life in lala land.

  • SolidGrue@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    The old “wasn’t me” defense. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see how that works out for him.

    • TurnItOff_OnAgain@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Also known as The Shaggy defense.

      But they caught me up on stage

      Wasn’t me

      But they have me on tape

      Wasn’t me

      Got the boxes and the folders

      Wasn’t me

      Even caught it on camera

      Wasn’t me

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      I like how they’re trying to blame incompetence, while he’s still running for president. I would love for a reporter to say, “Mr. Trump, you’re arguing in court that it’s not your fault for falsely believing you won the 2020 election, because you were tricked by misinformation put out by Russia and China. First, are you now confirming that you did indeed lose the election? And second, why should the people trust you not to be outsmarted by Russia and China again?”

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    The filings say that his lawyers hope during the trial to point to people in the federal government he suspects are biased toward him, to foreign influence, and to election disinformation that led him to believe the 2020 contest was stolen.

    That’s a large-screen projection if I’ve ever seen one.