Trump torched key defense by seeking legal advice from 'someone in a Walmart parking lot': legal analyst

Donald Trump insisted that he made the decision to continue his 2020 election challenges, and MSNBC's Chuck Rosenberg said that would undercut one of his best legal defenses.

The former president told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he relied on his own "instincts" to conclude the election had been "rigged" against him, and Rosenberg told "Morning Joe" that prosecutors would likely cite those claims when his Jan. 6 case goes to trial.

"Well, no, [it's] certainly not against the law to believe something, but if what you want to do is use an advice of counsel defense at your criminal trial, then you have to have relied on that advice in good faith," Rosenberg said. "So, again, two problems here. One is it doesn't seem to be good faith reliance. Two, at least with respect to Mr. Trump's answers to Kristin Welker, it doesn't seem to be reliance at all. In other words, 'I trust my own instincts, I do what I think is right, I'm always the smartest guy in the room. If that's the case, I don't need lawyers, I made the decisions here.'"

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"If that's true, it really isn't an advice of counsel defense," Rosenberg added. "I think it's not dispositive on the issue, but it undercuts the notion he has a valid defense here."

Trump said he dismissed lawyers who told him he had lost the election because he didn't "respect" them, and he instead relied on outside legal advisers who helped him push baseless claims of election fraud.

"He's taking advice from people that aren't his lawyers," Rosenberg said. "The fact that you meet someone in a Walmart parking lot and they tell you [that] you can trade on inside information doesn't mean they're your lawyer and you can rely on that advice. Even if you get over that hurdle, you'd have to be listening to the advice and hear what Mr. Trump said to Kristen Welker. He wasn't listening to the advice, he was relying on his own judgment -- that's the narcissist in him. He could never admit anything people tell him. That undercuts the advice of counsel defense."

"If you get past that hurdle you have to rely on the advice in good faith," he added. "Even if you got past that hurdle, the way you do all those things, is by getting on the stand and testifying to who told you about the things you could do or couldn't do. Getting on the stand for Mr. Trump is a very, very difficult proposition. I just don't see how, if we get to that, that could possibly go well for him."

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