Former President Donald Trump has finally found lawyers to represent him during his Senate indictment trial: a former prosecutor who refused to charge Bill Cosby and an Alabama lawyer with ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Bruce Castor and David Schoen will replace no fewer than five attorneys who separated from Trump during the strategy days before his trial to incite the crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump reportedly wanted previous lawyers to falsify his false claim that he was robbed of the 2020 election, the same accusation that led his followers to carry out the deadly insurgency.
It is unclear whether new lawyers plan to use this strategy.
“It’s an honor to represent the 45th president, Donald J. Trump, and the United States Constitution,” Schoen told statement released by Trump.
Castor added: “The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history.”
From 2002 to 2008, Castor served as a Republican District Attorney in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where he made the decision not to prosecute Cosby when Andrea Constand first accused the comedian of sexual assault, citing the lack of tests.
Constand settled a lawsuit against Cosby, and Castor’s successor filed charges against him. Cosby’s team tried to get the case launched by arguing that Castor had agreed that if the comedian testified in the civil case, the depositions would not be used against him in criminal court.
Cosby was eventually tried twice, convicted and is in jail. Constand sued Castor for defamation in a case settled out of court, and the former DA filed a personal injury lawsuit against the sexual assault victim, arguing that Constand made him lose a 2015 offer for DA. This case was dismissed.
Schoen is a veteran lawyer who has represented federal criminal defendants, including Roger Stone, a friend of Trump, and plaintiffs in cases of police misconduct and civil rights.
Lately he was in the headlines to meet with pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein before he died in prison; Schoen said Epstein wanted him to lead his defense team.
Trump’s trial is scheduled to begin the week of Feb. 8. If two-thirds of senators vote to condemn him, the Senate could vote by simple majority to prevent him from running again.
However, on Jan. 26, 45 senators voted that the trial would be unconstitutional, so it is unlikely there will be enough Republicans voting to convict.