GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz has expressed a willingness to resign from his seat in Congress so he would be able to represent former President Donald Trump at his second Senate impeachment trial, should it be necessary.
Gaetz, one of the former president’s closest allies, told Steve Bannon’s “War Room Pandemic” on Wednesday that he’d have to leave his seat in Congress to represent Trump and that he was open to making such a sacrifice if Trump asked.
“Absolutely. If the [former] president called me and wanted me to defend him on the floor of the Senate, that would be the top priority in my life,” the Florida congressman said. “I would leave my House seat, I would leave my home, I would do anything I had to do, to ensure the greatest president in my lifetime… got a full-throated defense that was crouched down, that wasn’t in fear of losing some moderate Republican senator, but that was worthy of the fight that he gave to the great people of this country for four years.”
Gaetz noted that he wasn’t the only Republican who inquired to the House Ethics Committee as to whether they could defend Trump.
“I love my district, I love representing them. But I view this cancellation of the Trump presidency and the Trump movement as one of the major risks to my people,” he said.
Trump was impeached last month for “incitement of insurrection,” after he encouraged his supporters at a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to march to the Capitol to express their displeasure with Congress’s intent to certify President Biden’s electoral victory. Violence broke out as many of the supporters breached the building, which led to five deaths and more than a hundred arrests. Many people showed up with firearms, and explosives were discovered as well.
The former president is being represented by David Schoen and Bruce Castor. Trump announced his new counsel over the weekend after his previous legal team quit, allegedly due to a dispute over legal strategy. The former president supposedly wanted to focus his defense around the promotion of unverified claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, which have been overwhelmingly refuted in court. The attorneys wanted to address the legality of prosecuting a president who has left office.
In the team’s legal response to the impeachment, Schoen and Castor called the impeachment trial a “violation of the Constitution” and a violation of Trump’s First Amendment rights.
“The Senate of the United States lacks jurisdiction over the 45th President because he holds no public office from which he can be removed, and the Constitution limits the authority of the Senate in cases of impeachment to removal from office as the prerequisite active remedy allowed the Senate under our Constitution,” they said on Tuesday, adding that it “violates the 45th President’s right to free speech and thought guaranteed under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Last week, the Senate defeated a motion by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to halt the impeachment trial on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. The vote was 55-45, with five Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues, indicating that it’ll be very unlikely for 17 Republicans to vote to convict.
