Trump defense strategy in January 6 case may go beyond trying to delay trial, court filings reveal

CNN —

Much of Donald Trump’s legal strategy in his federal 2020 election interference case has, so far, centered around trying to delay the start of his March trial until after the November presidential election.

But in recent court filings, and according to sources familiar with the Trump team’s approach, other defense strategies have emerged – namely of absolving Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, of responsibility for the US Capitol attack and positioning him as a victim of disinformation and overzealous government investigators.

Two under-the-radar court filings from Trump’s team in late November offered the clearest glimpse yet into what the former president’s lawyers may try to argue before a jury in the historic case. The filings say that his lawyers hope during the trial to point to people in the federal government he suspects are biased toward him, to foreign influence, and to election disinformation that led him to believe the 2020 contest was stolen.

The foreign interference defense

Trump’s team has already asked a judge to allow him access to more government documents, including classified information from his administration, that he believes would back up his argument that the election result couldn’t be trusted.

Prosecutors “cannot blame President Trump for public discord and distrust of the 2020 election results while refusing to turn over evidence that foreign actors stoked the very same flames,” his lawyers wrote in court in late November.

“Evidence of covert foreign disinformation campaigns relating to the 2020 election supports the defense argument that President Trump and others acted in good faith even if certain reports were ultimately determined to be inaccurate.”

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