WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump thought his lawyers’ performance on the opening day of his second impeachment trial was a disaster, as Republican allies and senators questioned the strategy and some they asked their legal team for another shake-up.
Trump, who was watching the proceedings in Washington from his Sea-to-Lake club in Palm Beach, Florida, was furious at what he saw, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Senators, too, criticized what they described as a out-of-focus and baffling performance as Trump’s team and Democratic House managers began exposing their cases to the Senate jury.
While more than a handful of Republicans are unlikely to join Democrats to convict the former president at the end of the trial, the procedure was an opportunity for Trump to try to repair some of the damage done to his legacy during the Capitol storm by a crowd of his supporters. Trump has been accused of inciting the January 6 uprising and last month became the first president in history to be accused by the House twice.
But Trump’s team, which was announced just over a week ago – they appeared unprepared as they tried to make a good cop, a bad cop routine that deviated from flattery to legality and contrasted dramatically with Democrat-centered emotional calls.
Trump, who has always been the showman, was impressed with Democrats, who opened Tuesday’s session with a powerful video that collected scenes of the deadly attack on Congress. And he complained that his team, especially lead attorney Bruce Castor, came out badly on television and looked weak compared to, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about private conversations.
Anger echoed Trump’s allies, who blasted lawyers both publicly and privately and with repeated blasphemies.
“There is no argument. I have no idea what he does. I have no idea why he says what he says, ”said Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer who represented Trump in his first impeachment process while weighing on Castor during a Newsmax appearance when the session was underway.
Peter Navarro, a former Trump business adviser, had already been urging the former president to leave his legal team and hire Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz before the trial began, warning, “You have to get rid of these guys. These people “It’s not a political trial.”
Republican members of the Senate seemed equally baffled, especially to Castor, who spent much of his time stuffing senators with praise, praising the Democrats’ case, and making bribes.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Castor said Castor “was just out of his mind and didn’t address the constitutional argument. He said Trump’s attorney, David Schoen, who spoke second, “approached it” and “did an effective job. But I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and he wasn’t one of the best who I have seen “.
Before the criticism was released, another Trump adviser described Castor’s presentation as part of a “very clear deliberative strategy.” The adviser said that after the Democrats’ emotional openness, Castor had set about “lowering the temperature” before “dropping the hammer on the unconstitutional nature of this witch hunt.”
It didn’t look like the hammer hit his fingernail.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted Tuesday with Democrats to go ahead with the trial, said Trump’s team did “terrible work” and was “disorganized,” “random” and “went.” to do all he could, but to speak of question in hand. “
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who also voted with Democrats, said she was “perplexed” by Castor, “that she didn’t seem to present any arguments, which was an unusual approach.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump’s strongest allies, said he did not believe the lawyers had done “the most effective job,” while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, another close ally of Trump. Trump said he did not know where Beaver was going with his arguments.
Trump’s team did not respond to requests for comment on the day’s events or questions about whether he plans any shocks to the legal team.
When asked for an answer to the Republican Party’s criticism when he left the trial, Castor, who had said during the trial that the team had “changed what we would do” at the last minute because House managers had made a good job – – I would just say “we had a good day”. Schoen told reporters he had not yet spoken to the president, but that “he should do better next time.”
“I mean, I always hope to improve. I hope to be able to do it, ”he said.
Trump broke up with his original indictment team just over a week before the Senate trial began, in part because Trump wanted them to use a defense based on unfounded allegations of election fraud and lawyers were unwilling to do so. .
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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.