Published on February 1, 2021 11:02 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump separated from his top impeachment lawyers just over a week before his Senate trial began, two people familiar with the situation said on Saturday.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, both lawyers from South Carolina, are no longer on Trump’s defense team. One person described the separation as a “mutual decision” that reflected a difference of opinion about the direction of the case. Both insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
One said that new additions to the legal team should be announced in a day or two.
The upheaval injects new uncertainty into the composition and strategy of Trump’s defense team as he prepares to face charges of inciting the US Capitol insurrection on January 6. However, all but five Senate Republicans voted this week in favor of an effort to dismiss the trial before it even started, making it clear that a conviction from the former president is unlikely, regardless of his defense team. Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, two former South Carolina federal prosecutors, are also out of the team, one person said.
According to another person with knowledge of the legal hires, Bowers and Barbier left the team because Trump wanted them to use a defense that was based on allegations of electoral fraud, and lawyers were unwilling to do so. The person was not allowed to speak publicly about the situation and requested anonymity.
Trump has struggled to find lawyers willing to defend him after becoming the first president in history to suffer two impeachments. He is due to stand trial in the week of February 8 on charges of inciting his supporters to invade Congress before President Joe Biden took office in an attempt to prevent the peaceful transition of power.