Defendants usually don’t go to prison for following legal advice. While Eastman, Giuliani and Powell were conspiracy theorists whose claims were thrown out of multiple courts, they also were lawyers with, at one time, good credentials. Trump’s defense team would argue that he trusted them and relied on their advice. Poor judgment might disqualify someone for public office, but it is not, in and of itself, a crime.
A criminal case against Trump would be much easier to establish if he privately admitted that he knew his election fraud claims were bogus. But in private, as Barr testified, Trump passionately pushed his fraud claims on anyone who would listen, and he is still pushing the claims now. Trump’s defense would be that he really believed that he won the 2020 election and that he believed his plan to overturn the election was legitimate.
That would also be a defense to another potential charge — that Trump obstructed an official proceeding, which requires proof that Trump had corrupt intent. A federal judge recently found that it was “more likely than not” that Trump had corrupt intent, relying on the fact that Pence and others told Trump that Eastman’s plan to set aside valid slates of electors and send the process back to the states was illegal. But in the context of a federal jury trial, Trump would only need to convince one juror that there was reasonable doubt that he believed a plan proposed to him by a prominent lawyer (who had once been a former Supreme Court clerk) was lawful.
An excerpt from Politico …
Defendants usually don’t go to prison for following legal advice. While Eastman, Giuliani and Powell were conspiracy theorists whose claims were thrown out of multiple courts, they also were lawyers with, at one time, good credentials. Trump’s defense team would argue that he trusted them and relied on their advice. Poor judgment might disqualify someone for public office, but it is not, in and of itself, a crime.
A criminal case against Trump would be much easier to establish if he privately admitted that he knew his election fraud claims were bogus. But in private, as Barr testified, Trump passionately pushed his fraud claims on anyone who would listen, and he is still pushing the claims now. Trump’s defense would be that he really believed that he won the 2020 election and that he believed his plan to overturn the election was legitimate.
That would also be a defense to another potential charge — that Trump obstructed an official proceeding, which requires proof that Trump had corrupt intent. A federal judge recently found that it was “more likely than not” that Trump had corrupt intent, relying on the fact that Pence and others told Trump that Eastman’s plan to set aside valid slates of electors and send the process back to the states was illegal. But in the context of a federal jury trial, Trump would only need to convince one juror that there was reasonable doubt that he believed a plan proposed to him by a prominent lawyer (who had once been a former Supreme Court clerk) was lawful.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/15/detached-from-reality-trump-jan-6-00039641