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The decision to use more videotapes – and move away from in-person arguments – amounts to a tacit acknowledgment that the lawyers Trump enlisted to defend him in his second impeachment trial do not inspire confidence.
Among the gang the Trump team is now scrambling to put together are clips of Democrats who also lost elections but refused to give in immediately. The former president’s legal team is hoping to claim that Trump was doing something similar when he questioned the 2020 election results using false allegations of voter fraud.
Videos could also help speed up the work; After Tuesday’s curvy and widely publicized performance, Trump and some of his fellow Republicans are more hopeful than ever of concluding the trial as quickly as possible. With few Republicans showing their willingness to change their minds on the case, he is generally expected to be acquitted.
Amid his frustration, advisers told Trump he could hardly expect more from his legal team after more knowledgeable lawyers were dissuaded from participating, either because of his reputation for not paying or because Trump pressured them to use false or misleading claims.
Bruce Castor, the lawyer who spoke first in a tapering opening offer, urged Trump to let off steam in front of his TV because he felt the performance was ineffective and embarrassing. He was more tempered in his reaction to David Schoen, who spoke after Castor.
Trump’s advisers are now hoping to make Schoen the face of the legal team, including reserving him for Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Tuesday night.
But Schoen has said he will not be working on the Sabbath day, which has raised questions about who will represent Trump in Saturday’s trial. Castor is an option, although it has caused consternation and head shaking from Republican senators.
Another could be Michael van der Veen, another member of the legal team. But his appearance would be complicated by participation in a lawsuit last year against Trump, claiming he was suppressing postal voting.
The botched opening of Trump’s impeachment defense on Monday came as a sort of surprise to the former president and his team, even though Democrats had reported for weeks that they were planning to use video of the attempted election. January 6 insurgency to defend Trump’s guilt. .
Castor even acknowledged the effectiveness of the House Directors’ presentation in his own remarks.
“I’ll be very frank with you,” Castor said. “We changed what we were going to do because we thought the House Directors presentation was well done.”
He called Democrats “brilliant speakers” and said he “loved to listen to them”.
The allies of the former president seemed to recognize this. In its coverage of the trial, the conservative Newsmax channel cut de Castor to the harsh criticisms of Alan Dershowitz, one of Trump’s lawyers in his first impeachment trial.
“I have no idea what he’s doing. I don’t know why he’s saying what he’s saying,” Derschowitz said.
This has caused consternation among some members of Trump’s team.
“The reprimand from Dersch and the first impeachment team really stung,” said a person familiar with the discussions.
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