Donald Trump announced on Sunday that David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. will lead his impeachment defense in his second impeachment trial in the Senate after it was reported that his entire team, including his lead attorneys quit amid a disagreement over his legal strategy.
The lawyers had planned to argue the constitutionality of holding a trial given that Trump is now a former president. But Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was widespread election fraud and that the election was stolen from him.
“Schoen has already been working with the 45th President and other advisors to prepare for the upcoming trial, and both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional – a fact 45 Senators voted in agreement with last week,” the release said.
Schoen serves as chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Civil Rights Litigation Committee. He focuses “primarily on the litigation of complex civil and criminal cases before trial and appellate courts,” his website says.
“It is an honor to represent the 45th President, Donald J. Trump, and the United States Constitution,” Schoen said in a statement.
Castor is a Pennsylvania based attorney who previously served as Montgomery County district attorney, according to CNN.
In 2005, he refused to prosecute sexual predator, Bill Cosby after a woman reported he had touched her inappropriately at his home in Montgomery County. At a status hearing for Cosby in 2016, Castor told a judge that he never pressed criminal sexual assault charges against Cosby because “it’s was better for justice”.
“I consider it a privilege to represent the 45th President. The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always,” Castor said.
Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is set to begin the week of Feb. 8. To successfully convict him, Democrats would need 17 Republicans to join them. That seems highly unlikely given that 45 Republicans voted to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional.
