Staff Reports
In a contentious interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” former President Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, went head-to-head with host Dana Bash over the latest indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Unsurprisingly, Bash wasted no time in grilling Lauro about the Trump Team’s strategy in the face of Smith’s motion for a protective order. Lauro pushed back, arguing that the proposed protective order was an attempt by the Biden administration to keep important non-sensitive information about President Trump from the press.
But Bash quickly corrected Lauro, pointing out that the proposed protective order was actually from the Special Counsel, not the Biden administration. Lauro remained steadfast in his belief that the Special Counsel needed approval from Attorney General Merrick Garland, who in turn answers to President Biden. He accused the Biden administration of wanting to prosecute and remove President Trump from the race, despite there being no evidence to support this claim.
"There's no evidence Joe Biden is involved in this."
CNN's Dana Bash speaks with John Lauro, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, about Trump's threats aimed at special counsel Jack Smith and the DOJ probe into attempts to overturn the 2020 election. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/7bzqIwB5sG
— CNN (@CNN) August 6, 2023
When Bash tried to steer the conversation back to the question of whether Lauro would agree to the proposed protective order, Lauro insisted that the press and the American people had a right to know the evidence in the case, as long as it wasn’t protected. He argued against keeping non-sensitive information from the press and criticized the prosecutors for trying to infringe on freedom of the press.
Throughout the interview, Bash repeatedly attempted to redirect Lauro and challenge his arguments. However, Lauro calmly addressed her points and didn’t back down. Bash brought up the discovery information and the Special Counsel’s criticism of President Trump’s public statements, asking if Lauro would advise his client to stop speaking out. Lauro focused on the fact that this case was brought by the Biden administration during a political campaign and stated that he would vigorously fight the criminal prosecution of Trump’s First Amendment rights in court.
The interview devolved into a debate over the distinction between protected speech and action, with Bash growing frustrated with Lauro’s refusal to accept her premise. Despite this, Lauro remained steadfast in his defense of President Trump and his First Amendment rights.
In a surprising move, CNN chose to highlight Bash’s assertion that there was no evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement in the case in their promotion of the interview on Twitter. This raises the question of why they even bothered to have Lauro on as a guest if they were only going to focus on Bash’s statement. It seems like yet another example of the media’s bias against President Trump and their attempts to downplay any potential wrongdoing by the Biden administration.
