Trump’s corner at upcoming impeachment trial
WASHINGTON – The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump is set to begin in earnest on Tuesday and the president has selected these nine people to defend him.
The attorneys and lawmakers will argue Trump’s case that he should be acquitted of the House’s charges that he abused his power and obstructed the congressional investigation into the Ukraine scandal. The group is composed of White House lawyers, one of the president’s personal attorneys and others in private practice, including some who have spoken out publicly against Trump’s impeachment.
Pat Cipollone, White House counsel
Cipollone, the top White House lawyer since October 2018, has played a lead role in defending Trump throughout the impeachment process. In October, he penned a scathing letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating the White House would not cooperate with an impeachment inquiry that he derided as an unfair attempt to “overturn” the 2016 presidential election. Arguing the president’s case in the Senate trial, however, will be an unusual role for Cipollone, who has mostly shunned the spotlight. Cipollone has also clashed with internal rivals, such as acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, over impeachment strategy but a person familiar with the situation said the team appears to be getting along ahead of the trial.
Jay Sekulow, Trump personal attorney
Sekulow joined the president’s outside legal team in 2017 during thenspecial counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and has remained on board ever since, helping handle cases involving Trump’s tax returns and financial dealings. Sekulow has been in the public eye much more than Cipollone, making television appearances and hosting his own radio show. He made his name arguing religious liberty cases before the Supreme Court, but representing the president at an impeachment trial will give him an even bigger stage.
Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Law School professor emeritus
A constitutional law expert and well-known legal commentator, Dershowitz has made a career of flocking to controversial, high-profile cases. He defended O.J. Simpson from murder charges and helped negotiate a nonprosecution agreement for financier Jeffrey Epstein when he was investigated in Florida for alleged sexual abuse of underage girls. He said his role on
Trump’s team is to address constitutional issues related to impeachment. Dershowitz said his position on the constitutional issues is nonpartisan and he “would be making exactly the same arguments if Hillary Clinton had been elected and impeached on the same grounds.” He wrote a book titled “The Case Against Impeaching Trump” that was released after Mueller’s Russia investigation. Some Trump allies were wary of Dershowitz’s inclusion on the team because he faces a defamation suit from a woman who says she was forced to have sex with Epstein’s friends, including Dershowitz, who denies the allegations.
Kenneth Starr, former Whitewater independent counsel
The roles have been reversed for Starr, whose report alleging that Bill Clinton lied under oath about an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky led to the former president’s impeachment. Starr’s public criticism of Trump’s impeachment on cable TV has drawn scorn from Democrats who considered Clinton’s impeachment to be an overreach by Republicans. Starr resigned as president of Baylor University in 2016 amid accusations of mishandling of on-campus sexual assault allegations. He also represented Epstein in the 2008 Florida case.
Pam Bondi, special White House adviser
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, joined Trump’s West Wing staff last fall to bolster the president’s defense. She has made appearances on Fox News and other cable TV outlets defending Trump against the impeachment charges brought by the House.
In Florida, Bondi helped lead an unsuccessful lawsuit filed by a group of states that sought to overturn Obamacare.
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