Trump lawyers are zeroing in on Mike Pence for 2020 election case: legal expert

Former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Harry Litman anticipated a key piece of Donald Trump's hearing that unfolded on Thursday, which proved to be accurate.

Taking to X after Trump's attorneys and special counsel Jack Smith's team argued before Judge Tanya Chutkan in Thursday morning court proceedings, Litman pointed out that he long believed Trump's team would make his conversations with former Vice President Mike Pence central to their defense.

"As I predicted they would, Trump's lawyers zeroing in on the [Mike] Pence allegations in the indictment and arguing the allegations require dismissal of the whole thing. This will be a, if not the, big issue on appeal (assuming Chutkan doesn't agree with them)."

Trump's lawyer, John Lauro, made the case that the "whole indictment falls" if the court decides that presidential immunity covers Trump's effort to pressure the former vice president to stop the election certification.

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Pence’s official role as vice president was ultimately to count the votes, but Trump believed Pence could agree there was enough evidence to question the results and send the electoral votes back to the Republican-controlled state legislatures for them to decide.

The superseding indictment filed by Smith's team last week still references Trump’s efforts to press Pence to certify the fake electors.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan said that it is "an exercise in futility" to try and get a new court date. “The issue of immunity will stop these proceedings once again," she anticipated.

Litman said that the comments foreshadow that Chutkan will likely rule for the Justice Department, "prompting another Trump appeal, including to the Supreme Court."