- Trump’s legal team is expected to present its defense at the Senate impeachment trial on Friday.
- But on Thursday, Sens. Cruz, Graham and Lee, who will vote at the trial, met with Trump’s lawyers.
- Cruz and one of the lawyers provided conflicting reports on the content of the discussion.
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Three Republican senators met with Donald Trump’s impeachment lawyers on Thursday, the day before they presented their defense against impeachment.
Senators – Ted Cruz from Texas, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina and Mike Lee from Utah – will vote on Trump’s sentencing in his Senate impeachment trial.
The meeting took place at the United States Capitol, in a room where the Trump team was preparing its defense, CNN reported.
When asked about the meeting, lawyers and at least one senator gave conflicting reports on the content of the discussion.
David Schoen, one of Trump’s lawyers, said the senators were trying to ensure that they were “familiar with the procedure,” CNN reported. However, Cruz said they were discussing the legal team’s arguments and providing feedback.
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“We were discussing their strategy for tomorrow and we were sharing our thoughts on where the discussion was and where to go,” Cruz told reporters on Thursday.
He also said that while he thinks the verdict is already clear and that Trump will be acquitted, he wanted to make sure that the former president would have the best possible defense.
“I think it is always a good thing that the trial is conducted with the best possible arguments and, as far as I have any ideas or ideas on how to do it, I would certainly like to share,” said Cruz.
Trump’s legal team is expected to present its defense argument on Friday after days of presentations by the House’s impeachment administrators. The presentations, which aim to prove that Trump was responsible for inciting the insurrection, ended on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Bruce Castor Jr., one of Trump’s lawyers, received a wave of criticism from figures on both sides of the political corridor after making an opening statement that many felt was rambling.
The defense argued that the trial itself was unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office and that Trump has been deprived of due process. They also argued that the Senate was not the right jurisdiction for the case.
Graham, one of the senators who met with the Trump team, expressed doubts about the defense’s initial presentation.
“I think the defense of the president was fine. I mean, it took a long time to get to what I think is at the heart of the matter,” Graham told reporters on Wednesday, adding that the defense team was “accusing all Democrats of hate Trump. “
He also criticized the case presented by the impeachment administrators, as did Cruz. Both senators said that House administrators did not successfully show that Trump incited the insurrection, only that the attack itself was horrible, which Cruz said was already “indisputable”.
Although the Senate effectively acts as a jury during an impeachment trial, Cruz, Graham and Lee indicated that they plan to vote for absolution.