Trump parts ways with impeachment lawyers - sources

[webfact]

Trump parts ways with impeachment lawyers - sources

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Valley International Airport after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in Harlingen, Texas, U.S., January 12, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly parted ways on Saturday with the two lead lawyers working on his defense for his Senate impeachment trial, a source familiar with the situation said, leaving Trump's legal strategy in disarray.

 

Butch Bowers and Deborah Barberi, two South Carolina lawyers, are no longer on Trump's team, the source said. The source described the move as a "mutual decision."

 

Three other lawyers associated with the team, Josh Howard of North Carolina and Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris of South Carolina, also parted ways with Trump, another source said.

 

A third source said Trump had differences with Bowers over strategy ahead of the trial. The president is still contending that he was the victim of mass election fraud in the Nov. 3 election won by President Joe Biden.

 

It leaves Trump's defense team in turmoil as he prepares for a trial starting on Feb. 9 to consider an article of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives charging Trump with inciting the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by his followers.

 

It was unclear who would now represent the former president at the trial. His White House lawyers at his first impeachment trial last year, Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin, are not expected to be a part of the proceedings.

 

"The Democrats' efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country," said Trump adviser Jason Miller.

 

"In fact, 45 senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional. We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly," Miller said.

 

Forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort last Tuesday to halt Trump’s impeachment trial, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign he will not be convicted of inciting insurrection at the Capitol.

 

(Reporting By Steve Holland; editing by Grant McCool and Sam Holmes)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-01

 

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[Thakkar]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

A third source said Trump had differences with Bowers over strategy ahead of the trial. The president is still contending that he was the victim of mass election fraud in the Nov. 3 election won by President Joe Biden.

I’m impressed. Not being able to find a lawyer willing to lie for you is quite an achievement.

[candide]

53 minutes ago, Thakkar said:

I’m impressed. Not being able to find a lawyer willing to lie for you is quite an achievement.

He can still ask the kraken lawyer! ????

Edited January 31, 2021 by candide

[Jeffr2]

Trump's delusional.  The lawyers aren't.  This should be interesting.

 

And yes, it's been proven it's constitutional to impeach him after he leaves office.  One reason?  If not, presidents could do something really bad, and just resign the next day to avoid the consequences. 

 

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/29/961330810/there-is-precedent-for-trying-a-former-government-official-established-145-years

 

There Is Precedent For Trying A Former Government Official, Established 145 Years Ago

 

"Though the text [of the Constitution] is open to debate, it appears that most scholars who have closely examined the question have concluded that Congress has authority to extend the impeachment process to officials who are no longer in office."

[Thakkar]

21 minutes ago, candide said:

He can still ask the kraken lawyer! ????

For a galaxy-sized lie, you need a galaxy-sized lawyer-creature. That’s just science.

[animalmagic]

Maybe he refused to pay up front?

[bkkcanuck8]

Should be interesting if Trump mounts a defense ... could cause for some awkward moments... the GOP for the most part were going to hang their hat on the idea the impeachment is unconstitutional because he is out of office (hint: it is not, there have been impeachments of office holders who were out of office for behaviour in office).  If Trump comes in mounts a defense of 'election fraud'... could be some interesting times... There is of course a good chance he will just rail about it from the sidelines and leave it up to GOP house members to 'defend' his interests...

[OneMoreFarang]

Even most GOP politicians should know he is guilty. Does that mean they will vote to impeach him in the senate? Unfortunately no.

It seems most GOP senators are spineless creatures who ignore the constitution and follow the Donald wherever he goes. What a bunch of pathetic losers.

[OneMoreFarang]

3 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

There is of course a good chance he will just rail about it from the sidelines and leave it up to GOP house members to 'defend' his interests...

And it seems that is exactly what most of those senators want to do. Pathetic!

[animalmagic]

My preference would be for him to defend himself, comedy gold!  But at the very least I want to watch him testify as that would also be very entertaining.

It brings to mind a suspect in an ID parade many years ago claiming the witness couldn't recognise him because the lights were out when he robbed her.

[Tug]

Ahhhh Donald only the best lol guess those lawyers dident want to go down with the ship lol guess knowingly lying to Congress is a crime they arnt willing to ruin their careers by pushing your big lie what a dumpster fire 

[ChakaKhan]

What?!!! All he needs is his lackey RUDY!!!!!.....as it seems Rudy is happy to work without getting paid as long as he gets the attention to feel relevant...Rudy has all the "facts"....(???)

 

Oh how far he has fallen as Americas Favorite Mayor......good luck with the Dominion lawsuit and the pending Lincoln Project one.......can find Rudy at 4 seasons landscaping office!

[Pique Dard]

what about guiliani, his body?

5 hours ago, webfact said:

a source familiar with the situation said, leaving Trump's legal strategy in disarray.

no wonder! disarray is synonymous with trumpism

[RocketDog]

The stench following this man is not something on his shoe. 

Easy to see why people (and lawyers) avoid him. 

Yes, I just implied that people and lawyers are exclusive of each other. 

[Stargeezr]

These lawyers are finally smart enough to know that The Donalds lies are impossible to

defend. It would be nice if the Republicans would be representatives  for their states

and the USA, and not brownnosers for the former lying President, but if they are like

Ted Crus, well  no luck there.  I hope the GOP becomes a permanently fractured

party and stays in minor opposition for many years.  Make America Honest Again.

  Geezer

[J Town]

3 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

These lawyers are finally smart enough to know that The Donalds lies are impossible to

defend. It would be nice if the Republicans would be representatives  for their states

and the USA, and not brownnosers for the former lying President, but if they are like

Ted Crus, well  no luck there.  I hope the GOP becomes a permanently fractured

party and stays in minor opposition for many years.  Make America Honest Again.

  Geezer

The GOP is imploding right before our eyes. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The basic issue in all this appears to be -- Trump wanted to base his defense on the "election was stolen by fraud" argument. And the original lawyers didn't want that, and instead wanted to go with the "it's unconstitutional to impeach a former president argument." Trump supposedly wasn't willing to go along with that, and the original attorneys weren't willing to argue the "election was stolen".

 

Apart from the sad, pathetic entertainment value of all this, I'm not sure any of the "Trump attorneys out" news matters a whit. Because, the majority of the Republican Senators are toadies who live in fear of being turfed out by Trump voters in future primaries, so they'll basically go along with whatever Trump wants or says, no matter how odious.

 

At this point, Trump could show up for the Senate trial alone and never say a word, and there likely wouldn't be the necessary 16 Republican votes (apart from the perhaps 50 Democrat ones) in the Senate to convict him.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/31/politics/trump-new-lawyers/index.html

 

Trump names two new lawyers for impeachment trial a day after his defense team collapsed

 

(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial, a day after CNN first reported that five members of his defense left and his team effectively collapsed.

 

One point of friction with his previous team was Trump wanted the attorneys to focus on his election fraud claims rather than the constitutionality of convicting a former president.

 

Trump has struggled to find lawyers willing to take his case as he refuses to budge from his false claims. Trump's advisers have been talking to him about his legal strategy and he keeps bringing up election fraud for his defense, while they have repeatedly tried to steer him away from that, according to a source familiar with those discussions.

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Srikcir]

Trump has now hired Schoen and Castor, Jr. 

"It's unclear whether Schoen and Castor will go along with what Trump wants."

Trump names two new lawyers for impeachment trial a day after his defense team collapsed

 

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by onthedarkside
broken weblink removed

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

Trump has now hired Schoen and Castor, Jr. 

"It's unclear whether Schoen and Castor will go along with what Trump wants."

Trump names two new lawyers for impeachment trial a day after his defense team collapsed

 

 

He thinks he will be a "shoe in" once Castor has the "good oil" on the  impeachment!

[earlinclaifornia]

Best outcome is trump loyalist find him innocent. He runs in 2024 and if the same tone exists as it is now, trump will lose by a real landslide. trump 2024, please!

[Caldera]

When even your sleazeball lawyers don't want to work for you anymore, you really have a problem.

 

[ThaIrish Sean]

As a non-American I have an observation. As all of the comments on here to see seem to be anti trump my conclusion is the people that voted for him are illiterate and probably illegitimate?

[earlinclaifornia]

14 minutes ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

As a non-American I have an observation. As all of the comments on here to see seem to be anti trump my conclusion is the people that voted for him are illiterate and probably illegitimate?

Being as the article is bad news for mr trump, seems pretty anti, right? His followers are lead and he is a master of media. Add the divisiveness of the two parties adding to the effectiveness. The majority of one party believes Biden did not win the election is more an intelligence measurement than thire literacy abilities.

Edited February 1, 2021 by earlinclaifornia

[Jeffr2]

13 minutes ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

As a non-American I have an observation. As all of the comments on here to see seem to be anti trump my conclusion is the people that voted for him are illiterate and probably illegitimate?

Trump's supporters thrive on misinformation, fake news, and attacking anyone who doesn't show fealty to Trump.  Thus, many are no longer on this forum.

[earlinclaifornia]

3 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Trump's supporters thrive on misinformation, fake news, and attacking anyone who doesn't show fealty to Trump.  Thus, many are no longer on this forum.

The few still here stay quite but chose to "laugh" or "confuse" and "sad" postings. 

[BusyB]

"The president is still contending that he was the victim of mass election fraud in the Nov. 3 election won by President Joe Biden."

 

Just like the Myanmar junta ...

 

US you are (still) sooo close to the brink ...

 

I really hope you pull through ...

[earlinclaifornia]

I wonder if followers  realize the vote the other day regarding that the 40 Republicans were not voting against the scheduled Impeachment trial but in reality it was only to "table it" until the legality was discussed. Not to toss it.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been reported and removed.  

 

Members who follow other members around and do not respond but leave negative emoticons on their reply may end up getting a suspension.  It is, at a minimum, trolling and can rise to the level of stalking.  

 

[thaibeachlovers]

(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial,

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/31/politics/trump-new-lawyers/index.html

[simple1]

28 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

(CNN)Former President Donald Trump's office announced that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will now head the legal team for his second impeachment trial,

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/31/politics/trump-new-lawyers/index.html

 

Surprise not, part of the cabal invested in trump's conspiracy world