Does It Matter Whether Trump Believed His Own Lies?
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2023
⏱️ 47 minutes
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Summary
It’s only been a few weeks since Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Donald Trump. But both he and his lawyers have already been previewing their case in defense: that he was protected by the First Amendment, that he relied on the advice of counsel, and—the glue holding it all together—he really believed what he was saying.
We recently published two articles on the subject. The first, by Lawfare Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Wittes and Legal Fellow Saraphin Dhanani, assesses Trump’s likely defenses. The second, by Lawfare Senior Editor Roger Parloff, argues that a jury may well see through them. Lawfare Executive Editor Natalie Orpett sat down with Ben, Saraphin, and Roger to talk through it all.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair |
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| 0:25.6 | no bull and the aftermath. So there's a case called United States versus West. It's a |
| 0:37.6 | 2004 case in the DC circuit. And the court held that the advice of council defense actually |
| 0:45.3 | does not hold water when the council in question is a co-conspirator. Now the indictment |
| 0:53.7 | doesn't make clear if East Mint and Giuliani are co-conspirators, unindicted co-conspirators, |
| 1:00.3 | but we can make an educated guess that they are. And so both because there is this precedent |
| 1:07.9 | that tells us Trump's advice of council defense might not hold water because he followed |
| 1:14.3 | the advice of possibly a co-conspirator. And also because there were many more attorneys |
| 1:20.0 | that were saying you can't do this and you will fully ignore their advice and follow |
| 1:24.0 | the advice of two other people. It seems like this defense might not be the strongest for |
| 1:30.3 | his case. I'm Natalie Orpet, executive editor of LawFair, and this is the LawFair podcast |
| 1:37.5 | August 21st, 2023. It's only been a few weeks since special council Jack Smith and |
| 1:43.5 | Dited Donald Trump. But both he and his lawyers have already been previewing their case |
| 1:48.0 | of defense, that he was protected by the First Amendment, that he relied on the advice |
| 1:52.6 | of council, and the glue holding it all together, that he really believed what he was saying. |
| 1:59.3 | We recently published two articles on the subject in LawFair. The first, by LawFair editor |
| 2:04.2 | and chief Benjamin Wittes and legal fellow Sarfin Denani, assesses Trump's likely defences. |
| 2:10.4 | The second, by LawFair senior editor Roger Parlov, argues that a jury may well see |
| 2:16.4 | through them. I sat down with Ben, Sarifin, and Roger to talk through it all. It's the |
| 2:21.4 | LawFair podcast August 21st, 2023. Does it matter whether Trump believed his own lies? |
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