UPDATE, FEB 1:

Donald Trump has named David Schoen and Bruce Castor as his new attorneys for his impeachment trial, after his five-member defense team resigned over the weekend.

Trump announced the appointments on Sunday evening.

Marc Elias, a specialist in election law, noted that Schoen and Castor were arguing against Trump’s “stolen election” claims only a few months ago.

However, Schoen has represented Roger Stone, Trump’s “political dirty trickster” convicted in November 2019 of obstructing the Trump-Russia investigation after he liaised with WikiLeaks to disseminate the Democratic e-mails stolen by Moscow’s operatives during the 2016 Presidential campaign.

Castor is a former Acting Attorney General of Pennsylvania. He has been criticized for his opposition to reforms helping past victims of sexual abuse.


ORIGINAL ENTRY, JAN 31: Donald Trump’s lawyers for his impeachment trial quit.

The five-member defense team left 10 days before Trump’s trial, over “incitement to insurrection” with the Capitol attack on January 6, begins in the Senate on February 9.

Lead attorney Butch Bowers (pictured) has departed, as have Deborah Barbier, Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser, and Greg Harris. They were due to file a response to the House article of impeachment on Tuesday.

A “person familiar with the defense team’s departure” said Trump demanded that the attorneys base their defense on his falsehood of voting fraud and a “stolen election” rather the legality of convicting a President after his departure from the White House.

Trump’s months of lies about “fraud” culminating in his speech outside the White House on January 6, calling on his followers to march on the Capitol and block the Congressional confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden. About 800 forced their way into the building, attacking police and threatening to kill legislators and Vice President Mike Pence. Five people died, including a Capitol police officer beaten with a fire extinguisher.

See also America Unfiltered Podcast: Are US Politics and Society Broken After Trump’s “Attempted Coup”?

No other lawyers have announced that they are defending Trump. Defense team members from Trump’s impeachment trial last year — including former Pat Cipollone and his deputy Pat Philbin and his personal attorney Jay Sekulow — have declined.

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has said he will argue the case, but almost all Trump advisors blame the former New York City mayor over Trump’s effort to overturn the November election. Giuliani and other attorneys for Trump and his allies lost 62 of 63 cases, including two that were quickly rejected by the Supreme Court.

The Trump advisors also blame Giuliani for Trump’s impeachment and trial in January 2020. Giuliani led an 11-month effort to pressure Ukrainian officials,

Former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller pushed aside the news of the departures, “We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly.”

Trump: I’ll Defend Myself

Trump reportedly is insisting that the case is “simple” and has told advisors he could argue it himself and save money on lawyers, although his staff maintain that he is not seriously contemplating the option.

Bowers, who is based in Columbia, South Carolina, served in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush. His appointment is said to have been arranged by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump friend.

Barbier was a former federal prosecutor for 15 years before starting her criminal defense firm. Gasser and Harris are both former federal prosecutors, with Gasser serving as the interim US Attorney for South Carolina. Howard worked as an associate independent counsel on the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations during the Clinton Presidency and spent a decade in the Justice Department.

Despite the setback, Trump is unlikely to be convicted. All but five of 50 Republican Senators voted to dismiss the trial earlier this week.

The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, had signalled that he might back conviction. He said last week that the Capitol attackers were “provoked” by Trump’s “lies”.

But McConnell backed the motion to dismiss, and other Senators put aside their criticism of Trump’s statements and assailed Democrats for proceeding.

On Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who had belatedly derided Trump’s conspiracy theories, paid tribute with a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

See also 45 of 50 GOP Senators Vote to Dismiss Trump’s Incitement of Insurrection
House GOP Leader McCarthy Pays Tribute to Trump With Florida Visit

A 2/3 majority is needed in the Senate, split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, to convict Trump.