Trump's Lawyers Repeated Inaccurate Claims in Impeachment Trial

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Peter Baker
@peterbakernyt
In keeping with their boss, Trump’s lawyers made a string of false or misleading statements in their presentation. As always, @YLindaQiu has the rundown.
Former President Donald J. Trump's defense lawyers Bruce L. Castor Jr. and Michael van der Veen arriving at the Capitol on Friday.
Trump’s Lawyers Repeated Inaccurate Claims in Impeachment Trial
The three members of the former president’s legal team made a number of misleading or false claims about the events of Jan. 6, antifa, the impeachment process and voter fraud.
nytimes.com

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/us/politics/donald-trump-lawyers-fact-check.html

As they mounted their defense of the former president on Friday, Donald J. Trump’s lawyers made a number of inaccurate or misleading claims about the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, Mr. Trump’s remarks, the impeachment process and 2020 election. Many claims were echoes of right-wing talking points popularized on social media or ones that were spread by Mr. Trump himself.

Here’s a fact check.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers were misleading about what happened on Jan. 6.

What Was Said

“Instead of expressing a desire that the joint session be prevented from conducting its business, the entire premise of his remarks was that the democratic process would and should play out according to the letter of the law.” — Michael van der Veen, lawyer for Mr. Trump

False. In his speech on Jan. 6 and before, Mr. Trump repeatedly urged former Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification of the Electoral College votes, saying Mr. Pence should “send it back to the States to recertify.” Mr. Trump continued his speech on Jan. 6 saying he was “challenging the certification of the election.”

What Was Said

“Far from promoting insurrection of the United States, the president’s remarks explicitly encouraged those in attendance to exercise their rights peacefully and patriotically.” — Mr. van der Veen

This is exaggerated. Mr. Trump used the phrase “peacefully and patriotically” once in his speech, compared with 20 uses of the word “fight.”

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