Donald Trump speaking to a crowd before boarding Air Force One on January 20.
Photograph:
Luis M. Alvarez / Associated Press
Two lawyers who led the defense of former President Donald Trump in his Senate impeachment trial left the legal team just over a week before the trial began, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, two lawyers from South Carolina, no longer plan to represent Trump, the person said on Saturday. The decision was mutual, the person said, refusing to give a reason for the exits.
The matches left Trump in a difficult position with the trial scheduled to begin on February 8.
CNN previously reported the departures.
The Democratic-led House in January voted to impeach Trump for the second time, claiming that he encouraged a crowd to invade Congress to prevent lawmakers from certifying President Biden’s electoral victory. While 10 Republicans joined the Democrats in the House impeachment vote for Trump, Democrats in the Senate face a greater chance of persuading 17 Republicans to join them in the vote to condemn.
Mr. Trump did not accept any responsibility for the Capitol revolt and denied any wrongdoing.
Trump faces a more complicated path to build a defense team than in his first impeachment trial, when he had the White House Council Office and a robust personal legal team behind him. His personal lawyers, Jay Sekulow, Jane Raskin and Marty Raskin, made it clear that they did not plan to defend him a second time, according to people familiar with the matter, as did former White House lawyer Pat Cipollone and his deputy, Pat Philbin.
Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at [email protected]
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