Trump struggling to find legal team as impeachment trial approaches
It is unclear when the second impeachment trial will take place at this point
Outgoing President Donald Trump is having a hard time finding representation for his upcoming impeachment trial.
Experts are claiming that many attorneys don’t want an affiliation with Trump because it may tarnish their own business reputation in the future. They also say it will be a challenge to defend Trump for inciting the Jan. 6th deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Read More: Horned Trump supporter asks Trump for pardon following riots
“I think it’s reflective of where Trump’s own status is these days in which he has relatively little to offer and people don’t want to be associated with him generally,” said a politics professor at Princeton University Keith Whittington per Bloomberg. “The fact is he’s not going to get the A team.”
This is Trump’s second impeachment trial. He was first up for impeachment in January of 2020 and had an impressive team of attorneys such as the president’s current chief of staff Mark Meadows and the director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe among others. But getting a superb team this time around won’t be so simple.
“I’m not terribly surprised that top tier conservative attorneys who a Republican president might normally turn to would not be interested in jumping on this particular grenade,” said Whittington. “Those who might have been sympathetic to defending the president in other contexts such as his first impeachment don’t necessarily want to defend what he’s done here — both because they aren’t easy to defend and they’ll tarnish people’s professional reputation down the road.”
It is unclear when the impeachment trial will take place at this point.
Read More: Leaders work to reverse the damage and tension caused by Trump insurrection
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been tight-lipped on when she plans to send the impeachment article to the Senate. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not reconvene until Jan. 19.
A professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, Alan Dershowitz defended Trump during his first impeachment and says the president’s language is protected under the First Amendment and right to protest. He added the Constitution does not allow for an impeachment trial once a president has left the White House.
“The case will not be able to come to the Senate until after President Trump leaves office and then the Senate has no jurisdiction to try the case,” said Dershowitz. He will not represent Trump for this impeachment trail.
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