Trump has no plans to resign because he does not have the confidence to forgive Mike Pence.
With just one week left in his term, President Donald Trump watched on television as he became the first president in history to be impeached twice, sources told ABC News.
Sources close to Trump say he was furious when he saw some Republicans confessing to the Capitol violence, while Republicans have clearly backed him since the previous impeachment and said there was no wrongdoing on his part.
In a video statement released following the vote, Trump made no mention of the impeachment, but condemned in his strongest terms the violence that took place last week. He did not take responsibility for his role in the events, but has surfaced in the video as the president’s lawyers advise that he may face a legal crisis to encourage his supporters to attack the capital.
Sources also described Trump’s description as “anxious” about his life after the White House because he has seen many partners with the Trump organization and Republican loyalists sever ties and condemn his behavior.
Despite Republicans voting in favor of impeachment and a growing colony for his resignation, Trump has urged a small group of top aides that he has no plans to resign, sources familiar with the conversation told ABC News.
This week, top aides met with Trump to discuss their options going forward. It looked like a possible resignation in the options. The president asked questions about the process, but ultimately said such an option is nonstart, partly because he does not believe Vice President Mike Pence will forgive him.
He also asked what the Senate case would look like at this time. What he did during the first impeachment, he came up with the idea of testifying himself, which the aides refused to pursue.
Rudy Giuliani – who is frequently present in the West Wing – is likely to take the lead in Trump’s defense, sources told ABC News. He will likely be joined by former Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, who gave a presentation during the last impeachment hearing. Lawyer John Eastman is also expected to join Trump’s defense team.
Eastman, whose extremist status has recently troubled some members of the president’s legal team, represented the president in a lawsuit led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that was eventually rejected by the Supreme Court and pushed a racist conspiracy theory about the previously vice president-elect. Kamala Harris.
