Former President Trump will not testify at his Senate impeachment trial, Fox News learned.
“The president will not testify in an unconstitutional process,” Trump’s senior adviser Jason Miller told Fox News on Thursday.
The former president’s legal team responded to impeachment manager Jamie Raskin’s request on Thursday for the former president to testify as part of the Senate impeachment trial, calling it a “public relations coup” and saying that ” cannot prove “the charges against him.
The comments came after the House’s impeachment administrators asked Trump to testify under oath before or during the Senate impeachment trial on “his conduct” on January 6.
The president’s legal team did not say, in one way or another, whether the president would testify.
“We are getting your latest public relations stunt,” wrote Trump’s lawyers Bruce Castor and David Schoen. “As you certainly know, there is no negative inference in this unconstitutional process.”
“Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen,” they continued.
They added: “The use of our Constitution to open an impeachment process is very serious in trying to play these games.”
The impeachment managers’ request came after Trump’s legal team filed a response to the Impeachment Article denying what managers call “indisputable facts about the president’s conduct that led to” the Capitol riots.
Trump’s legal team responded by saying that “the 45th President of the United States admirably played his role as President, always doing what he thought was best for the interests of the American people.”
Impeachment manager, Dep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Wrote a letter to Trump on Thursday, saying he “tried to put critical facts in question, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of his constitutional offense.”
“In light of your challenge to these factual allegations, I am writing to invite you to testify under oath, before or during the Senate impeachment trial, regarding your conduct on January 6, 2021,” wrote Raskin. “We suggest that you provide your testimony (of course, including interrogation) as early as Monday, February 8, 2021, and no later than Thursday, February 11, 2021. We will be happy to organize such testimony in a mutually convenient place, time and place. “
Raskin added: “If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports strong adverse inference about your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021.”
Raskin asked Trump to respond by Friday, February 5 at 5 pm
The House voted on January 13 for the impeachment of Trump from 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats. The Senate impeachment trial will begin on February 9.
The response from Trump’s legal team denies that Trump violated his oath while saying that he was protected by the First Amendment in response to allegations that he incited an insurrection.