Donald Trump Announces New Legal Team
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a new legal defense team for his Senate impeachment trial, according to The Hill.
It was widely reported on Saturday that Trump’s lawyers quit after he allegedly tried to force them to base his defense on the claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged for Democrat Joe Biden.
The House of Representatives impeached Trump earlier this month for inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government by telling his supporters to storm the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor Jr. will defend Trump against these accusations. Schoen, a federal criminal defense lawyer, said that it will be an “honor” to represent the former commander-in-chief and defend the Constitution.
Castor, the former acting attorney general in Pennsylvania, described the opportunity as a “privilege.”
“The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always.”
Per CNN, the former president’s office also said that “Schoen has already been working with the 45th President and other advisors to prepare for the upcoming trial, and both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional.”
The statements seem to suggest that Trump’s new legal team will focus on the legality and constitutionality of impeachment.
As Trump’s office noted, most Republicans agree that impeaching a former commander-in-chief is unconstitutional. Forty five Republican Party lawmakers in the upper chamber supported a measure that deemed the process unconstitutional, which suggested that Democrats simply do not have the votes to convict Trump.
Assuming that all Democrats vote to convict Trump, at least 17 Republicans will have to buck their party and agree that the former commander-in-chief is guilty of inciting an insurrection.
It was reported on Saturday evening that Trump was considering defending himself. Some of his advisers were reportedly in favor of this idea, but others thought that he would not be able to prove that he is not guilty. The latter group seems to have prevailed.
It remains unclear what Democrats’ legal strategy will be. According to former Special Assistant Watergate Prosecutor Nick Akerman, they should call Trump as their first witness in order to prove that he lied about Biden winning thanks to widespread voter fraud.
“I would question him about all of the lies, put up the videos of his lies, the tweets of his lie,” Akerman said in an interview with CNN’s Ana Cabrera.
