CNN
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John Lauro, the latest addition to former President Donald Trump’s legal team, told Fox News on Friday that there is no reason for the former president to appear before a federal grand jury investigating the fallout from the 2020 election, adding that Trump “did absolutely nothing wrong.”
Earlier this week, Trump said he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith informing him that he is the target of the investigation and inviting him to appear before a grand jury. CNN previously reported that Trump’s team believed they had until Thursday to respond.
The grand jury did not convene Friday after meeting Thursday.
“You don’t need to go before any grand jury right now,” Lauro said. “President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. He has done nothing criminal.”
“The bottom line is that the special counsel, which is really Biden’s Department of Justice, is going after President Trump and that’s the focus,” Lauro told Fox News.
Lauro also echoed claims by Trump and his GOP allies that the Justice Department is being politicized to target a political opponent, saying Trump only asked for an audit after the 2020 election.
“The only thing President Trump asked for is a pause in the count so these seven contested states could re-audit or re-certify,” Lauro said of Trump’s actions after his election loss. “I’ve never heard of anyone being charged for asking for an audit.”
The destination letter cites three statutes Trump could be charged with: disenfranchisement; conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States or to defraud; and tampering with a witness, according to multiple media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department has been investigating possible violations of the law surrounding the January 6, 2021, conspiracy and obstruction of Congress proceeding, which is part of the witness tampering law, CNN previously reported following a Justice Department search of the home of a Trump administration adviser.
Trump has already been impeached twice this year. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted the former president on 34 counts of falsifying business records in March, and Smith indicted Trump on 37 counts in the classified documents investigation last month. Trump pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Justice Department regulations allow prosecutors to notify subjects of an investigation that they have become a target. Often, a notification that a person is a target is a strong sign that an indictment could follow, but the recipient may not ultimately be charged.
Trump addressed the target letter Tuesday at a Fox News town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, saying Smith’s investigation amounts to “election interference” and calling it a “disgrace.” His campaign is already raising funds outside of the target letter.
Lauro told Fox News that if he appears in court on Trump’s behalf, he will represent “the sovereign citizens of this country who deserve to hear the truth.” The lawyer also said he would ask that cameras be allowed in the Washington, D.C., courtroom after any impeachment of the president there.
