'Not an intelligent plan': Trump's Colorado defense relies on election deniers' testimony

A series of tense exchanges between plaintiffs’ attorneys and witnesses called by former President Donald Trump’s legal team characterized the opening stages of Trump’s defense in a Colorado trial to determine whether he is ineligible to seek office under the Constitution’s “insurrection” clause. Amy Kremer, a pro-Trump activist, testified that she and other election-denial activists had initially organized “Stop the Steal” events with figures like far-right Ali Alexander, but by Jan. 6 had distanced themselves from what she called “agitators” and “bomb-throwers.” Plaintiffs have focused on the combative rhetoric of Trump’s speech at The Ellipse, which ended roughly an hour before the assault on the Capitol began. “I don’t know what Pence was doing,” Kremer replied, citing a debunked legal theory advanced Trump attorney John Eastman holding that Pence had the unilateral authority to block or delay certification of the election results. He has continued to spread baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, suggesting earlier this year that former Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Mark Milley should be “hung” for his actions on Jan. 6, and endorsing Trump’s 2022 call to “terminate” the Constitution and hold a “new election” in a post that was later deleted.