Trump announces new impeachment legal team

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SME Times News Bureau | 02 Feb, 2021
After the departure of the lead attorney and four other lawyers, former US President Donald Trump has announced a new legal team for his Senate impeachment trial slated to begin on February 8.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Trump said the new team will be headed by lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor Jr., The Hill news website reported.

Trump's announcement came a day after the Politico news outlet said in a report on Saturday that Butch Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer who was to lead Trump's trial and "reportedly set to play a major role", left Trump's legal team.

The news report added that another laywer Deborah Barbier was also no longer with the team.

Also on Saturday night, a CNN report said that a three other lawyers, Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, have left the team as well.

The House of Representatives on January 13 impeached Trump for a second time following the January 6 riots at the Capitol in Washington D.C. which took place after he addressed thousands of his supporters outside the building.

Addressing the supporters, he called for "patriots" to take a stand against the 2020 election results.

The House has charged Trump with inciting an insurrection and threatening democracy.

Under the impeachment process, the Senate will hold a judicial-style trial of Trump with the senators acting as jurors.

It is unlikely once again that Trump will be convicted in the upper chamber as the Democrats would need 17 Republicans to vote in a 50-50 Senate.

Last month, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, confirmed earlier this month that he will not be a part of the impeachment trial.

In a statement to The Hill news website on January 18, Giuliani, also a former New York City Mayor, said: "Due to the fact that I may be a witness, the rules of legal ethics would prohibit me from representing the President as trial counsel in the impeachment trial."

Along with Trump, Giuliani had also addressed the supporters and called for "trial by combat".