Trump’s impeachment team includes Epstein/ Weinstein/OJ lawyer
US President Donald Trump has unexpectedly added two high-profile lawyers to his defence team as he prepares for his impeachment trial in the Senate.
The president has enlisted the help of Alan Dershowitz, who helped get OJ Simpson cleared of double murder, and Ken Starr, who investigated Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.
Dershowitz has a history of representing the rich and famous and his clients have included boxer Mike Tyson, convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein.
Starr is a conservative hero whose graphic report of sexual encounters between Clinton and his White House intern essentially triggered his impeachment trial in the late ’90s.
Both men have been a defender of Trump on Fox News — the president’s favourite cable network.
Robert Ray, who helped investigate the so-called Whitewater scandal surrounding Bill and Hillary Clinton’s property investments, was also added to the legal dream team, it was announced yesterday.
The man leading Trump’s legal team, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, rarely speaks on the record and does not make television appearances.
It is understood the president had privately expressed concern that his case did not have enough “firepower” given it will be watched by millions of viewers.
Trump denies abusing his power when he put pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden.
Democratic congressmen will begin to argue their case on Wednesday. At least 67 votes out of a possible 100 are needed to remove the president.
Dershowitz’s reputation has been damaged in recent years through his association with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who killed himself in jail last summer while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually abused under age girls.
One of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has accused Dershowitz of participating in her abuse. He has denied it and has been battling in court for years with Giuffre and her lawyers. The pair are also suing each other for defamation, each saying the other is lying.
Lewinsky appeared to respond to Starr’s appointment by tweeting: “This is definitely an ‘are you f-----kidding me?’ kinda day’.”