“I consider it a privilege to represent the 45th president. The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written forever, and will triumph over partisanship once again, and always” , said Castor in a statement.
Castor, a Republican who was elected district attorney for Pennsylvania’s third most populous county, decided not to charge Cosby at a sexual encounter in 2004. He ran for office again in 2015, and his trial in the Cosby case was a key issue used against him. for the Democrat who defeated him.
Castor said he personally thought Cosby should have been arrested, but that the evidence was not strong enough to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt.
In 2004, Castor ran for state attorney general without success. In 2016, he became the chief lieutenant of the state’s attorney general – Kathleen Kane, a Democrat – while she faced charges of leaking protected investigative information to defame a rival and lie to a grand jury about it. She was convicted, leaving Castor as the state’s acting attorney general for a few days.
Lawyer David Schoen will also lead the defense.
Schoen met with financier Jeffrey Epstein about joining his advocacy team on sex trafficking charges just days before Epstein killed himself in a New York prison.
In an interview with the Atlanta Jewish Times last year, Schoen said he was also approached by Trump associate Roger Stone before Stone’s trial for being part of the team and was later hired to handle his appeal. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence and then forgave him. Schoen said in the interview that the case against Stone was “very unfair and politicized”.
The announcement on Sunday was intended to promote a sense of stability around Trump’s defense team as his impeachment trial approaches. The former president has struggled to hire and retain lawyers willing to represent him against charges that he incited the deadly US Capitol rebellion that happened when a crowd of legalists stormed Congress as legislators met on January 6. to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump’s entire legal team gives up a week before the impeachment trial: Sources
This is in contrast to his first impeachment trial, when Trump’s team of prominent lawyers included Alan Dershowitz, one of the country’s best-known criminal defense lawyers, as well as White House lawyer Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, who argued cases before the Supreme Court.
The Trump team had initially announced that Butch Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer, would lead his legal team after a presentation by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. But that team broke away at the weekend due to differences in legal strategy.
A person familiar with his thinking said that Bowers and another South Carolina lawyer, Deborah Barbier, left the team because Trump wanted them to use a defense 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
Republicans and advisers to Trump, the first president to be impeached twice in American history, have made it clear that they intend to make a simple argument at the trial: Trump’s trial, scheduled for the week of February 8, is unconstitutional because he is not more time in the office.
SEE TOO: Congressman talks about impeachment trial: ‘This president should be held responsible’
“Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already stepped down are totally unconstitutional and very bad for our country,” said Jason Miller, Trump adviser.
Many lawyers, however, say there is no impediment to an impeachment trial, even though Trump has left the White House. One argument is that state constitutions prior to the United States Constitution allowed for impeachment after officials left office. Nor did the drafters of the Constitution specifically prohibit the practice.
Neither Schoen nor Castor returned phone messages asking for comment on Sunday night.
SEE TOO: Trump loses top impeachment lawyers a week before trial, sources say
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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