WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to represent him in his Senate impeachment trial over the charge that he incited the insurrection, a source familiar with the matter said in a statement. Thursday.
Bowers did not respond to requests for comment.
Although relatively unknown on the national scene, Bowers represented former Republican governors in South Carolina and served in the U.S. Department of Justice under former Republican President George W. Bush, according to his website.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally, recommended it, the source said.
In 2012, Bowers represented then-governor Nikki Haley at an ethics hearing on allegations that she was involved in illegal lobbying while she was a state deputy. Haley was cleared of any wrongdoing.
In 2009, Bowers represented then-governor Mark Sanford at an ethics hearing on the use of a state aircraft for a secret five-day trip to Argentina to see a woman with whom he was having an affair. Sanford agreed to pay $ 74,000 to settle charges that his personal travel and campaign spending violated state ethics laws, but he continued to deny wrongdoing.
Bowers, also known as Karl Smith Bowers Jr., graduated from Tulane University law school, has his own law firm and is associated with the Miller Law Group. Bowers said on the group’s website that he liked “bird hunting” and “good bourbon”.
“I have always considered him competent and ethical,” said South Carolina attorney Jay Bender, a Democrat who has known Bowers professionally for over 20 years.
But he said Trump would not be his first controversial representation. “I found that many of his customers were questionable,” said Bender.
Trump’s trial is due to start in mid-February to give Bowers time to prepare, Republican Sen. Mike Braun told reporters on Thursday.
SECOND IMPEACHMENT
The Democratic-led House of Representatives on January 13 made Trump the first president of the United States to be charged twice, accusing him of inciting an insurrection, with a focus on an incendiary speech he delivered to thousands of supporters on June 6. January, just before a pro-Trump crowd ravaged the United States Capitol.
Protesters interrupted the formal certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the November 3 election, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five dead, including a police officer. Trump falsely claimed that the election was stolen from him as a result of widespread fraud.
Trump seems to have had a hard time hiring a lawyer for his impeachment defense.
Earlier this month, Rudy Giuliani was ready to help defend the president, people familiar with the matter said.
But in recent days, Giuliani said he would not do that, citing his participation in the demonstration just before the attack on the Capitol. Giuliani led the legal team that tried unsuccessfully to overturn Trump’s defeat in the elections. The often chaotic effort has further shaken the reputation of the former New York mayor.
John Eastman, a professor who represented Trump in his election challenges at the United States Supreme Court last month, was also under consideration. He told Reuters last week that he was open to defending Trump, but this week he said he would hardly do so, citing his participation in the same rally.
Eastman said he was restricted by the District of Columbia bar code. “A lawyer should not be a lawyer in a case where you are a witness,” he said.
Former White House lawyer Pat Cipollone and Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow, who helped lead the defense in the first impeachment trial in early 2020, should not be involved, people familiar with the situation said.
Trump was first charged by the House in late 2019 on charges of abusing his power by asking the government of Ukraine to announce investigations to discredit Biden. The then Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him.
Reporting by Steve Holland, Karen Freifeld and Jan Wolfe; Written by Jan Wolfe and Noeleen Walder; Editing by Alistair Bell, Peter Cooney and Grant NcCool