Trump in a bind as legal team quit ahead of his trial
DONALD Trump has split from his legal team with just a week to go before his impeachment trial because of his baseless obsession with election fraud.
Five lawyers said they would not work with the former president amid claims they have different ideas about legal strategy.
The attorneys are said to want to focus on arguing that prosecuting a former president is unconstitutional while Mr Trump wants to claim the election was fraudulent.
With legal briefs due to be filed this week and the trial due to start a week from today, the announcement makes it unclear who will argue Mr Trump’s case.
Mr Trump will be tried before the Senate on a charge of ‘incitement of insurrection’ for whipping up the
‘Not receptive’ to approach of team
crowd which stormed the US Capitol on January 6.
It will be Mr Trump’s second impeachment trial in 13 months and he is the first US president in history to face such ignominy.
CNN reported that Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys for Mr Trump, are no longer on the team.
The pair leaving was said to be a ‘mutual decision’.
Mr Trump is said to have been ‘not receptive’ to the idea of focusing on the legality of convicting a president after he has left office.
Mr Trump has refused to concede to US president Joe Biden and has lost dozens of court cases filed across the US claiming there was election fraud.
Mr Bowers worked in the US justice department under president George W Bush, while Ms Barbier is a former federal prosecutor who has worked on a number of highprofile cases in South Carolina, where she is based.
Josh Howard, who worked as associate independent counsel on the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations during the Clinton presidency, left as well.
The others who departed are Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, both former federal prosecutors.
Mr Trump still stands a very high chance of being acquitted regardless of who represents him.
During a vote last week all but five Republican senators backed a measure saying that putting Mr Trump on trial after he has left office is unconstitutional.
Senator Rand Paul said the trial was ‘dead on arrival’ as Democrats need 17 Republian senators to join them in voting for a conviction.
Mr Biden reportedly wants to keep the senate trial short so that it does not hold up his agenda.
President Biden wants Congress to focus on his $1.9trillion coronavirus and economic stimulus package instead of Mr Trump.
A source told politics website The Hill: ‘He’s come to the White House with a strong unity message and the last thing he wants is for the impeachment trial to define the early days of his presidency.’
In a boost to Mr Biden, ten senate Republicans said they wanted to work with him to pass something, but it will likely be less than the amount he wants.