A criminal lawyer representing Donald Trump in his role in trying to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results repeatedly refused to acknowledge that his client did not win the Peach State in the last presidential election.
Drew Findling’s desire to not “start getting into political statements” surprised MSNBC host Ari Melber.
“This is about the case,” said Melber, his eyebrows raised. Soon after, he put the question to Findling again, calling it “an easy one.”
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“Let me tell you what I’m focused on,” Findling answered. “I’m focused on being a criminal defense attorney and seeing that my client is swept up in what, to me, has been a ridiculous circus atmosphere — special purpose grand jury — not only in this case, but on other cases.”
In a motion Monday, Findling and two other Trump lawyers asked that the Fulton County district attorney’s office be disqualified from the case and that the special grand jury’s final report on election interference by Trump and his allies be quashed.
Melber replied that Findling had already made that point during the interview, and then asked him once more about the 2020 election.
“Why would we even talk about that?” Findling asked. “What does that have to do with me defending President Trump in this matter?”
Melber argued that Trump’s false claims about the election helped facilitate the deployment of fraudulent electors to certain states, including Georgia. “When you say you don’t know why it’s relevant,” Melber continued, “the most charitable way I can put it, Drew, is that that’s confusing.”
Findling reiterated that he would not be “going political” despite Melber’s insistence that Trump’s denial of the election outcome is “the beating heart at the center of this case.”
Melber then summed up Findling’s responses: “It seems today that you have an inability to acknowledge that [Trump] lost the state of Georgia, which is odd, because you know he lost the state of Georgia. We all know that.”
