By ERIC TUCKER and JILL COLVIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump appointed two lawyers on Sunday to his impeachment advocacy team, the day after it was revealed that the former president had split from a previous group of lawyers.
The two lawyers representing him will be David Schoen, a criminal defense attorney with offices in Alabama and New York, and Bruce Castor, a former Pennsylvania county attorney. Both issued statements through a Trump adviser saying they were honored to accept the position.
“The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written for all ages and that will triumph over partisanship once again, and always, ”said Castor, who served as district attorney in Montgomery County, outside Philadelphia, from 2000 to 2008.
Trump’s team revealed on Saturday that several South Carolina lawyers who were supposed to represent him at the trial that would begin next week were no longer participating.
Trump, the first president in American history to face two charges, is due to stand trial in the Senate on charges of inciting his supporters to invade Congress on January 6, when lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Republicans and Trump advisers have made it clear that they intend to present a simple argument at the trial: Trump’s trial is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office. Lawyers say there is no impediment to an impeachment trial, even though Trump has left the White House.
“Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already stepped down are totally unconstitutional and very bad for our country,” said Trump adviser Jason Miller.
Castor is as well known in Pennsylvania for a case he didn’t file as for any of the lawsuits he opened. He refused to accuse actor Bill Cosby after a woman went to the police in the Philadelphia suburb in 2005 to say that Cosby had drugged and molested her a year earlier.
A new prosecutor arrested Cosby in 2015 after documents from his 2005 civil case against Cosby were opened, revealing Cosby’s damaging testimony about sexual encounters with his wife, Andrea Constand, and others.