Trump announces new attorneys ahead of impeachment
Written on: January 31, 2021
The former president of the United States said that he hired two attorneys to lead his defense in the historic process against him.
Former US President Donald Trump announced this Sunday (01/31/2021) in a statement that "highly respected trial attorneys" David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr would lead his legal team during their historic second impeachment trial.
The announcement of the Republican millionaire comes a day after US media reported that several of his lawyers had left his legal team, almost a week after the Senate trial began.
Castor has focused on criminal law throughout his career, while Schoen specializes in "civil rights litigation in Alabama, and federal criminal defense in New York, including white collar and other complex cases." .
Trump, who left office on January 20, was accused by the House of Representatives of inciting a mob of his supporters who stormed the Congress building in an attempt to block the officialization of his electoral loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Doubly historical process
The process is doubly historic, as it is the second time that Trump will be subjected to a political trial, after being acquitted of another in February 2020, and it is the first time that a US president has been tried after leaving the White House.
Schoen was already working with the defense and both he and Castor "agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional," the statement said.
On Saturday, the US media said five lawyers, including two who allegedly led the billionaire Republican's legal team, had left him over disagreements with his legal strategy.
Trump wanted the lawyers to continue their unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud rather than contest the legality of convicting a president after he left power, adding that the former president was "not receptive" to discussing it.
The trial, in which Trump faces an indictment for "incitement to insurrection," begins on February 9.
But after just five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats this week in giving the green light to the trial, it became pretty clear that the task of adding 17 Republican votes to get to the two-thirds needed for a conviction is nearly impossible.
jc (afp, ap)
