Trump’s lawyers spar with judge in Washington election interference case
Al Jazeera
The hearing was the first in months for the long-delayed case, one of four criminal indictments that Donald Trump faces.
A tense hearing has unfolded in one of former United States President Donald Trump’s four criminal cases, as his defence team questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings.
Thursday’s hearing took place before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, where Trump faces four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.
Trump himself was not present at the proceedings. But from the outset, defence lawyer John Lauro cast doubt on the validity of the charges and the timing of the case.
“We may be dealing with an illegitimate indictment from the get-go,” Lauro told the court.
He also asserted that a recent Supreme Court decision granting presumptive immunity to a range of presidential actions should result in the case’s outright dismissal.
