Trump allies rip Castor’s ‘disorganized’ argument
Attorney Bruce Castor was pilloried Tuesday for what critics derided as a rambling and disjointed argument against the conviction of Donald Trump.
Castor, a former Pennsylvania prosecutor who served briefly as the state’s acting attorney general, sparked bewilderment among even some Trump allies for his opening argument against the charge that Trump incited the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of the defense team during Trump’s first impeachment trial, said on the conservative cable news network Newsmax.
Castor, 59, is no stranger to high-profile or controversial cases. After having worked in the Montgomery County district attorney’s office for several years, Castor was elected as the county’s DA twice.
Castor declined to prosecute comedian Bill Cosby on sexual assault allegations after Andrea Constand, one of Cosby’s accusers, went to police in 2005.
Castor decided there was “insufficient credible and admissible evidence” to prosecute Cosby. Other Montgomery County prosecutors came to a different conclusion more than a decade later, and Cosby was convicted in 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in 2004.
After serving as a district attorney, Castor faced a series of political losses, including the primary for state attorney general. Castor attempted to return to the district attorney’s office but lost to a Democrat who ran an onslaught of ads attacking Castor’s decision to not prosecute Cosby.
Castor and defense attorney David Schoen were announced as Trump’s defense team little more than a week ago, giving them little time to prepare their case, including about two days to write
their 14-page response to the Democratic House impeachment managers’ brief.
Several Republican senators expressed consternation after Castor’s opening argument.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA., called Trump’s defense “disorganized” and said lawyers “did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand.” Cassidy was one of six Republicans who voted that the trial was constitutional and could move forward.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine were confused by Castor’s argument. Murkowski said she could not follow Castor’s line of thinking, and Collins said Castor “did not seem to make any arguments at all.”
Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said, “I thought I knew where it was going, and I really didn’t know where it was going.”
Another Trump ally, Sen. John Cornyn, R-texas, said Castor “rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument.”
Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro argued before the trial started that Trump needed a defender capable of putting on an impassioned show to win over the audience.
“You gotta get rid of those guys. These people don’t understand. This is a political trial,” Navarro said.
Contributing: Associated Press