Donald Trump doomed one of his legal defences during his interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker that aired on Sunday’s broadcast of Meet The Press, said legal experts.
Trump told Welker it was his decision — and not that of his lawyers — to challenge the 2020 election result.
“Were you calling the shots, though, Mr. President, ultimately?” Welker asked Trump. The ex-POTUS replied: “As to whether or not I believed it was rigged? Oh, sure … it was my decision. But I listened to some people. Some people said that.”
Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe said Trump “just threw his whole ‘following my lawyers’ advice’ defense under the bus.”
“No, let me correct that: not just under the bus but under a roaring, speeding, ginormous freight train,” Tribe added on X, formerly Twitter.
Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, appearing on MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, agreed.
The Obama-era DOJ official said Trump’ comment had just made US District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s election obstruction case against him “a lot easier.”
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, meanwhile, told Psaki it was actually a “twofer” admission from the former president because Trump also admitted to Welker that he’d demanded the votes stop being counted.
“He just said it on air to NBC, stop counting the votes. Well, that’s not allowed,” Weissmann explained.
Watch the video here: