Trump says hires new legal professionals to defend him in impeachment | Donald Trump Information

The former president says David Schoen and Bruce Castor will now lead his defense to charges of “inciting insurrection”.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has hired two new lawyers to lead his defense team for his historic second impeachment trial, due to begin next week.

Trump’s announcement follows reports that he abruptly parted ways with several of his impeachment attorneys.

Attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor will lead defense efforts in the trial, which is due to begin February 9 in the U.S. Senate, Trump’s office said in a statement. According to the former president’s office, Schön had already helped Trump and advisors prepare for the trial.

Butch Bowers and Deborah Barberi, two lawyers from South Carolina, are no longer on Trump’s team, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Saturday. The source described their departure as a “mutual decision”.

Castor has focused on criminal law throughout his career, while Schoen has specialized in “civil rights litigation in Alabama and federal criminal defense work, including clerks and other complex cases, in New York,” the statement said.

Trump, who resigned on January 20, is on trial for instigating the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol to block his election loss against President Joe Biden. He is due to file a response on the impeachment charges on Tuesday.

The trial is historic on two fronts, marking the first time a president has been tried twice and the first time a former President of the United States has faced such a trial.

Schön had already worked with the defense team, and he and Castor “both agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional,” the statement said.

Schön previously represented Trump’s former adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted in November 2019 of having lied under oath to lawmakers investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Trump pardoned Stone in December 2020.

Castor is a former Pennsylvania District Attorney known for his decision not to prosecute entertainer Bill Cosby in 2005 after a woman alleged sexual assault by Cosby. In 2017, Castor sued Cosby’s accuser for defamation, claiming it destroyed his political career in retaliation. 83-year-old Cosby is now serving a three to ten year sentence after convicted of drug abuse and rape of a former friend at his home in 2004 on a trial.

Trump reportedly struggled to form a defense prior to his historic trial, with new hurdles just days left.

With only five Republicans joining all 50 Democrats this week to agree to continue the process, 17 Republicans are unlikely to vote against Trump, the minimum number required to cross the two-thirds threshold for one To achieve condemnation.