Another Jan. 6 defendant, Dustin Thompson, notifies the judge that he may argue as a defense at trial that he believed he had official permission from Trump — "he was acting under actual or believed public authority." Trial is set for April 11. 
During pretrial detention fights last year, judges rejected the theory that a president could authorize something like the Capitol attack. Thompson's lawyer prev. filed notice in court that they planned to subpoena as witnesses Trump "and several members of his inner circle"
The issue of whether Jan. 6 defendants can use the Trump defense at trial has come up in a few other cases so far -->
https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1487163317101735938
And on a related note:
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1489679754122964993
Here is Jan. 6 defendant Dustin Thompson's brief arguing for why he should be able to call Donald Trump + allies as witnesses at trial to prove a "public authority defense": s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2119…
DOJ's response to this is due by Feb. 18
DOJ's response to this is due by Feb. 18
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