[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: A lawyer for Donald Trump said on Wednesday (February 3) that it would be “idiotic” and “insane” to dispute the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election during his impeachment in the Senate, adding that the former US president you haven’t pressured him to make those arguments.
“To inject that into a case that is already a winner would be idiotic,” Bruce L Castor Jr, a recent addition to Trump’s legal team, said in an interview with Reuters.
“It would be crazy to do that,” said Castor.
“No one has pressured me to make that defense,” Castor added, saying Trump was pleased with a brief submitted by Castor and his co-attorney David Schoen on Tuesday.
READ: Trump is ‘singularly responsible’ for brief allegations of impeachment and riots
COMMENT: Why Some Trump Campaign Attorneys Are Backing Up on Allegations of Voter Fraud
The two defense attorneys are preparing for trial before the United States Senate beginning February 9. The chamber will consider an article of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives accusing Trump of inciting the deadly assault of the Capitol on Jan.6 by his followers.
In their response to the post Tuesday, they argued that the Senate lacked the authority to impeach a president who left office. Castor told Reuters that would be the main defense argument.
Forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort on Jan. 26 to stop Trump’s impeachment for that very reason, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign that he will not be convicted.
Democratic lawmakers said in a report Tuesday that Trump targeted a mob “like a loaded cannon” in Congress and should be barred from holding public office in the future.
Trump named Castor and Schoen as his lead attorneys Sunday after abruptly parting ways with a team of five attorneys he brought in to represent him.
A source familiar with the discussions said Trump disagreed with his former lead attorney, Butch Bowers, on the strategy before trial. The president still maintains that he was the victim of massive electoral fraud in the Nov. 3 election won by President Joe Biden.
Castor said he did not plan to call defense witnesses unless the House Democrats processing the trial call their own witnesses. He declined to say who Trump would call on that stage.
READ: Trump’s lawyer Giuliani faces a lawsuit of 1.300 million dollars for allegations of electoral fraud
COMMENT: Trump may be conceding, but his scorched earth antics are deeply concerning
Some Republicans in Congress have said Trump should avoid repeating his baseless theories about voter fraud.
“I think it would be a disservice to the president’s own defense to get bogged down in things that are not really before the Senate,” Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, told reporters Monday.
Castor is a former Pennsylvania district attorney known for his decision not to prosecute artist Bill Cosby in 2005 after a woman accused Cosby of sexual assault. In 2017, Castor sued Cosby’s accuser in the defamation case, claiming that she destroyed his political career in retaliation.
