Trump's Legal Team to Put 2020 Election on Trial

Former President Donald Trump and his legal advisers see his latest indictment as another opportunity to argue that the 2020 election was stolen from him in favor of President Joe Biden, according to reports.

Trump's defense team is signaling that it will rebut allegations in the indictment that Trump knew his claims of fraud in the election were false, but that he allegedly took steps to flip the results.

According to sources close to Trump, he wants to subpoena people about the election while arguing that he won, The Washington Post reported.

Trump attorney John Lauro confirmed to Fox News this week that the plan is to "re-litigate every single issue in the 2020 election in the context of this litigation."

Lauro added that the indictment "gives President Trump an opportunity that he has never had before, which is to have subpoena power since Jan. 6 in a way that can be exercised in federal court."

Some Republican strategists see this plan as problematic, as they say there are more issues to focus on in the 2024 race, and considering the evidence that was provided by leaders in Trump's 2020 campaign and the government that denies his claims.

Further, Democrat and Republican leaders agree that revisiting 2020 hurt the Republican Party among moderates and swing voters in the midterm elections and could damage Trump and the rest of the GOP ticket in the upcoming elections.

"To the extent that it forces him to talk about the past rather than the future, it is not helpful to his campaign," Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.

Michael Duncan, a GOP digital consultant who is aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday on his "Ruthless" podcast that focusing on election denial cost the party control of the Senate.

"If this is the conversation we're going to have over the next year and a half, it's going to be tough for Republicans, particularly in suburban areas," Duncan said.

Meanwhile, Trump attorney Alina Habba said Thursday that Trump's defense team will show that he believed there were issues with the 2020 election's results, but his legal team won't have to prove the results were fake.

"The truth is, as an American, there were questions that he had regarding the election integrity," Habba said. "We've seen documents come out, we've seen documentaries come out showing that there were issues with the election.

"When somebody wants to say that the 2020 election was perfect and that President Trump has no right to object to it, we've got to go show him all the facts, and there's a lot of facts to show."

Before heading to Washington on Thursday, Trump posted on his Truth Social page that he was to be arrested "for having challenged a corrupt, rigged, & stolen election."

Trump is also facing a potential indictment in Georgia over alleged efforts to influence the state's ballot, saying Thursday that he needs "one more indictment to ensure my election."

Trump has seen a boost from the three indictments he's been served, including financially, but his rivals are arguing that his gains are going to start turning into weaknesses in a general election against, most likely, Biden.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, running at a distant second place behind Trump, has said that if he's elected, he'll pardon the former president.

But DeSantis still questioned the wisdom of basing an election on Trump's legal struggles, and warned that Republicans will lose in a general election if that happens.

"If the election becomes a referendum on what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, we are not going to win," DeSantis told ABC News last week. "We've got to focus on what the people are looking for in terms of their futures, and I just think in 2024, we won't, we can't have distractions."

Trump's allies say the prosecutions are proving that he's a greater threat to his enemies.

"If the feds hate Trump THIS much, you're going to have A LOT of people say you know what, he's got my vote," Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., tweeted Thursday. "The people don't trust the government, and their relentless efforts to destroy Trump will only broaden his support."