Trump lawyer denies client called for Milley execution in post suggesting he be killed

Last month, former President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, deserved to be executed for telling his counterparts in China that they didn't have to worry about Trump launching an unprovoked attack on their country in a bid to cling to power.

"This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!" Trump wrote. "A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!!!"

While this seemed like a pretty clear threat against Milley to many observers, Trump attorney John Lauro argued on Monday that the former president's declaration that Milley deserved to put to death was nothing of the sort.

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As Bloomberg News' Zoe Tillman reports, Lauro argued that Trump wasn't making a sincere threat against Milley with his post, to which Judge Tanya Chutkan argued that Trump's words could incite one of his more fanatical followers to try to take violent action against him.

Lauro responded that the potential incitement of others to violence is no reason to gag Trump, despite the fact that courts have consistently ruled that incitement to violence is not covered by the First Amendment.