'Utter nonsense': Former prosecutor demolishes Giuliani's defense for telling Capitol rioters to have 'trial by combat'

On CNN Tuesday, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig tore into Rudy Giuliani's defense for why he told the "Save America" rally attendees on Jan. 6 to have "trial by combat" — mere minutes before the storming of the U.S. Capitol began.

"Giuliani was central to former President Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election. And now he says in a court filing that those words were 'hyperbolic,'" said anchor Erin Burnett. "Does that stand up in court?"

"No, Erin, it's utter nonsense and here is why," said Honig. "A statement can be both hyperbole and intended to incite. It means exaggeration and something intentionally overstated. Sometimes that's what people do when they're trying to do something drastic like this and look at the statement in context. What happened in the two months leading up to Jan. 6th? Rudy Giuliani was losing lawsuits all over the country and eloquently tells the crowd your democracy is being stolen from you, and being told trial by combat. It's hard to accept as benign."

Watch below:

Elie Honig says Giuliani's defense for Capitol riot statements is "utterly absurd"www.youtube.com