'Nonstarter': Ex-prosecutor destroys Trump's First Amendment defense in Jan. 6 case
Former President Donald Trump has made his most prominent public defense of his behavior charged in the 2020 election plot based on the First Amendment — claiming that his political speech in asserting the election was stolen is being criminalized.
The former president has kicked these arguments into high gear as prosecutors request a protective order, to try to prevent him from revealing sensitive details of the case on social media in the runup to the trial, which has yet to be scheduled following last week's arraignment.
But former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance made clear on MSNBC Monday that this argument is not going to go anywhere.
"In issuing a protective order, with Donald Trump claiming his free speech is being violated, et cetera, does that make whatever the judge decides a little trickier?" asked anchor Katy Tur.
"Anytime you're looking at these kinds of issues, you have to make a consideration about treating all defendants alike," said Vance. "That becomes virtually impossible in the case of Donald Trump, complicated by his run for the presidency, and First Amendment issues that might arise in the context of the political process."
However, she continued, "Insofar as he claims any sort of a First Amendment defense to engage in the three conspiracies and the substantiative count that he's charged with in the election interference indictment, that's really a nonstarter, Katy, because nothing that he's doing here is alleged to be speech. He is charged with conduct, not speech, and that's the line that prosecutors very carefully crafted and drew in this indictment."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
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