CNN’s John Avlon: Trump’s Lawyers Could Face Serious Penalties For Pushing ‘Easily Disproven Lies’ During Impeachment

CNN’s John Avlon calmly and dispassionately listed many of the lies Donald Trump’s legal team pushed throughout his impeachment trial, which he followed with the serious consequences they may face for advancing them.

In a “Reality Check” segment on Monday, Avlon echoed the words of ABC’s Jon Karl by acknowledging Trump might be acquitted for incitement of insurrection, “but he was not vindicated.” Avlon focused primarily on the statements from Trump’s lawyers, noting that many of their trial arguments amounted to “whataboutism,” “flat-out falsehoods,” and “surreal whoppers.”

“There were a litany of easily disproven lies,” Avlon said before listing several of them. He decided that “perhaps the most egregious lie” was when Trump attorney Michael van Der Veen claimed that the former president didn’t know Vice President Mike Pence and the rest of Congress were in danger as Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in their violent attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

“We know that politicians are accountable only to voters, but what’s the recourse for lawyers?” Avlon asked. “In Pennsylvania, where two of Trump’s lawyers are members of the bar, there is a requirement that lawyers practice ‘candor towards the tribunal.’ It says specifically that a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact, and penalties range from private reprimand to public censure, to suspension, and even disbarment.”

Avlon pointed out that these penalties are uncommon, “but so are impeachment trials.”

Watch above, via CNN.