Daily US Times: Donald Trump has parted ways with his lead impeachment lawyers for senate trial just over a week before his Senate trial is set to begin, two people familiar with the situation confirmed it on Saturday.
Deborah Barbier and Butch Bowers, both South Carolina lawyers, are no longer with the former president’s defense team. One of the people described the decision as a “mutual decision” that reflected a difference of opinion on the direction of the case. Both discussed on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
One of the people said new additions to the legal team were expected to be announced in a day or two.
The upheaval of the impeachment lawyers injects fresh uncertainty into the makeup and strategy of Donald Trump’s defense team as he prepares to face charges that he incited the riot at the US Capitol on January 6. However, all but five Republican Senators voted this week in favor of an effort to dismiss the trial before it even started, making clear a conviction of Mr Trump is unlikely regardless of his defense team.
Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, two former federal prosecutors from South Carolina, are also off the team, one of the people said.
Trump has struggled to find attorneys willing to defend him in the Senate after becoming the first president in history to be impeached twice. He is set to stand trial the week of February 8 on a charge that he incited his supporters to storm Congress before President Joe Biden’s inauguration in an attempt to halt the peaceful transition of power.
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