In approximately one week, the Senate impeachment trial against former President Trump will commence. The House impeached Trump 18 days ago after some of his supporters mobbed Capitol Hill; Democrats and the ten Republicans who voted alongside them asserted that the 45th president’s rhetoric about the election “incited” the witnessed insurrection.
Next week, Trump’s impeachment trial is set to start. The timeframe allows both impeachment managers and the legal defense team for Trump to ready their cases. Unfortunately, however, Washington Examiner reports that multiple impeachment lawyers have since parted ways with the 45th president.
Trump’s Legal Defense Team for the Senate Trial
Yesterday, news broke that lawyers Deborah Barbier and Butch Bowers departed from Trump’s legal defense team. Per sources, the exit of Barbier and Bowers was agreed upon by all involved parties; this, therefore, indicates that the 45th president and his then-attorneys didn’t see eye-to-eye regarding the proper defense for next week’s proceedings.
With the exit of the two aforementioned attorneys, new lawyers are expected to join Trump’s defense team within days. Hence, the new attorneys will have roughly one week to get up to speed on everything and prepare a defense.
More than 270 congressional staffers have signed onto a letting asking U.S. senators to please convict Donald Trump at his upcoming impeachment trial. pic.twitter.com/4ArUbsIoLb
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 30, 2021
Barbier and Bower’s exit from Trump’s defense team reportedly stems from the 45th president’s interest in mentioning voter fraud in his defense. The 45th president is also said to have wanted these attorneys to reiterate that Democrats stole the 2020 election; however, Barbier and Bower couldn’t agree to this.
Not Enough Votes to Convict
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have admitted that the Senate impeachment trial is unlikely to result in Trump’s conviction.
First and most importantly, the votes just aren’t there. Two-thirds of the Senate would have to vote for conviction, requiring support from 17 Republican senators. Also, the GOP remains overwhelmingly opposed against conviction; some conservative senators have furthermore argued that putting a now-private citizen on trial isn’t constitutional, to begin with.
Per @JasonMillerinDC, final decision on team hasn't been made but will be soon. "The Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional & so bad for our country. In fact, 45 Senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 31, 2021
Time will tell what ultimately arises from the 45th president’s legal defense team. News of his now-former attorneys’ departures has already begun to circulate online, however.
What do you think about multiple Trump lawyers leaving the defense team for his Senate trial? Do you believe the Senate has enough votes to convict the 45th president for “inciting an insurrection?” Be sure to let us know your thoughts on these latest updates in the comments section below.
