The week
Trump’s defense against impeachment is out. Bannon reportedly encourages him to go to the Senate himself.
Five attorneys willing to defend former President Donald Trump in his forthcoming Senate impeachment trial have left his legal team, people familiar with the situation, confirmed to CNN and The New York Times. Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who are expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are out, as are Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris. No other attorneys have announced they were involved in the case, so it appears Trump is defenseless for now. The lawyers have reportedly left because of a disagreement over legal strategy. Trump reportedly wanted them to push his baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud in last year’s presidential election rather than focusing on whether condemning a former president after he left office is constitutional, an argument that the consensus appears to be among the Republicans and the reason he I will likely be acquitted. Bowers, a source said, lacked chemistry with Trump and the decision to leave was reportedly mutual. It’s unclear where Trump will go from here – his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani reportedly wants to take the case, but he’s a potential witness in the trial as he spoke at the meeting ahead of the deadly Capitol riot Trump is accused of instigating, and the Times notes “almost all” of Trump’s advisers blame Giuliani for the impeachment in the first place. As GOP senators have indicated they will not vote for a conviction, some are wondering why Trump would even bother spending money on lawyers at this point. And here’s a statement Trump made almost literally to advisers> https://t.co/zktWOIrUD6 – Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) Jan. 31, 2021 Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, believes the former president himself is going to the Senate must go because “he’s the only one who can sell it.” Trump seems to be open to the idea, but aides are reportedly against it. Read more in The New York Times and CNN. More stories from theweek.com Don’t watch now, but vaccines can end the pandemic 5 Cheekily Funny Cartoons About the GOP’s Trump Problem 5 Irrationally Funny Cartoons About the GameStop Stock Market Madness