Trump hires new defence lawyers

FORMER United States president Donald Trump announced a new impeachment legal defence team on Sunday, just one day after it was revealed he had parted ways with an earlier set of lawyers with little more than a week to go before his Senate trial.

The two representing Mr

Trump will be defence lawyer David Schoen, a frequent television legal commentator, and Bruce Castor, a former district attorney in Pennsylvania who has faced criticism for his decision to not charge actor Bill Cosby in a sex crimes case.

The announcement was intended to promote a sense of stability surrounding the

Trump defence team as his impeachment trial nears. The former president has struggled to hire and retain lawyers willing to represent him against charges that he incited the deadly riot at the US Capitol, in which a mob of loyalists stormed Congress as legislators met on January 6 to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

Republicans and aides to Mr Trump, the first president to be impeached twice in American history, have made clear that they intend to make a simple argument in the trial, stating that Mr Trump’s trial, scheduled for the week of February 8, is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office.