Five lawyers who were set to defend former President Donald Trump left the team as the Senate prepares to begin its impeachment trial.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be lead attorneys, have reportedly left amid a mutual decision by the attorneys and Trump. North Carolina attorney Josh Howard, as well as Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris from South Carolina, have also reportedly left the case.
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A person familiar with the situation told CNN that the departure was prompted by a dispute over legal strategy. Trump allegedly wanted the attorneys to argue that mass election fraud took place in the 2020 election and that the election was stolen from him, rather than focusing on the legality of convicting a president once they have left office.
There have been no other announcements at the time on who may work on Trump’s legal team.
Former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller called the efforts to convict Trump post-presidency “unconstitutional,” adding in a tweet that there hasn’t been a final decision on their legal team, but one will be made shortly.
Dem. efforts to impeach a pres. who has already left office is unconstitutional & so bad for our country. In fact, 45 Senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional. We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly. https://t.co/OQIugh0A8F
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) January 31, 2021
Bowers, a South Carolina litigator, reportedly put together the team of five. He worked in the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush and worked on several high-profile cases.
Gasser and Harris are both former federal prosecutors. Gasser served as the interim U.S. attorney for South Carolina, and both attorneys have worked closely with Barbier.
Howard was an associate independent counsel on the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigations during the Clinton administration in the 1990s. He spent a decade in the Justice Department and worked on the confirmations of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. More recently, Howard served as the chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections until 2016.
Trump was impeached by the Democrat-controlled House earlier this month on a charge of “incitement of insurrection” over a Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the deaths of five people. Trump was first impeached in late 2019 by the House over two Ukraine-related charges but was later acquitted by the GOP-led House. Trump is the first president to be impeached twice.
The Washington Examiner reached out to all five attorneys for comment.
