Renowned legal scholar and lawyer says some defenses may work in Trump case
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The latest indictment against former President Donald Trump is getting the attention of a high-profile attorney and constitutional scholar.
Professor Bruce Rogow is now weighing in on the conspiracy charges against the former president. He says while the government's case appears strong, there are some possible defenses that may work.
On Monday, a grand jury indicted Trump on conspiracy charges in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Rogow is no stranger to high profile cases.
Trump will be back in court after the latest indictment.
In 2019, he represented former Trump advisor and ally, Roger Stone, in his corruption trial in Washington D.C. He was found guilty and now Trump will face the same jury pool.
MORE: Read the full DOJ indictment against former President Donald Trump
"I tried the Roger Stone case there. The people there, primarily Democrats, a great number of minorities from the District of Columbia. It’s not an easy jury pool for a conservative Republican. So, I think he has to face that," explained Rogow.
Former President Donald J. Trump spoke after the latest indictment.
Trump's legal team will certainly ask for a change of venue, but the chances of that happening are not good says Rogow.
"I think they’re slim to none. The Jan. 6 cases were all tried there with people from all over the country including Florida. Obviously, nobody wanted to be tried there, but that’s where the incident took place and that’s the proper venue for it," explained Rogow.
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Rogow has thoroughly studied the indictment against Trump and sees a few defense strategies. For instance, the six co-conspirators are all attorneys.
One can argue, Trump got bad advice from his lawyers. But there is a bigger hurdle for federal prosecutors to overcome.
Professor Bruce Rogow believes a change of venue will not happen.
"One of the things you’re going to have to face in prosecuting Trump is whether or not he believes that the election was fraught with irregularities and the outcome had been altered. And whether or not he relied on the advice of counsel, because advise from counsel is a complete defense to criminal intent, if indeed you disclose everything to your counsel and your counsel says you can do this," explained Rogow.
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In the indictment, Trump is accused of pressuring Vice President Mike Pence not to go forward with certifying the election. Court documents show, there was also an effort by Trump and his advisers to push fake electors in several states, into changing the outcome of the election results.
Rogow believes while the government's case may appear stacked against Trump, the defense team knows it just needs to sway one juror.
"Remember all you need is one person in a federal jury to vote not guilty, to refuse to convict, to get a hung jury and that’s not hard to do," Rogow shared.