Former President Trump has said goodbye to his top impeachment lawyers just over a week before his Senate trial begins, two people familiar with the situation said Saturday.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, both South Carolina attorneys, are no longer on Trump’s defense team. One of the people described the farewell as a ‘mutual decision’ that reflected a difference of opinion on the direction of the matter. Both insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
One said new additions to the legal team were expected to be announced in a day or two.
The upheaval injects new uncertainty into the makeup and strategy of Trump’s defense team as he prepares for an allegation that he instigated the uprising in the US Capitol on Jan. to dismiss the trial before it even began, making it clear that a conviction of the former president is unlikely, regardless of his defense team.
Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, two former federal prosecutors from South Carolina, are also on the team, one of the people said.
According to another person with knowledge of the legal hires, Bowers and Barbier left the team because Trump wanted them to use a defense based on election fraud allegations, and the lawyers were unwilling to do so. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation and requested anonymity.
Trump is struggling to find lawyers to defend him after becoming the first president in history to be impeached twice. He will face trial the week of February 8 on charges that he incited his supporters to storm Congress before President Biden’s inauguration elections were confirmed in an effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
After numerous lawyers defending him previously refused to take the case, Trump was introduced to Bowers by one of his closest allies in the Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
A well-known figure in Republican legal circles, Bowers had years of experience representing elected officials and political candidates, including then-South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, against a failed impeachment attempt that turned into an ethics inquiry.
Bowers and Barbier did not immediately return messages asking for comment on Saturday evening.
Republicans and Trump aides have made it clear that they intend to make a simple argument in the trial: Trump’s trial is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office.
While the Republicans in Washington seemed eager to say goodbye to Trump after the deadly events of Jan. 6, they have since toned down their criticism, wary of angering the former president’s loyal constituency.
CNN was the first to report the lawyers’ departure.
Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, SC contributed to this report.