Five Lawyers Leave Trump’s Impeachment Defense Team Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former President Donald Trump’s five attorneys for his impeachment legal defense have departed, citing disagreements on the group’s defense strategy.
• Based on reports, Trump wanted his counsel to focus on widespread voter fraud and other election irregularities.
• His impeachment trial in the Senate is scheduled to begin next week.

Less than two weeks before former President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, five lawyers from his legal counsel have left over disagreements on the team’s game plan, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Attorney Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were posed to be the lead counsels, have already abandoned the team. Both lawyers said it was a mutual decision to depart from the crew.

Recently included attorney Josh Howard from North Carolina has also left, based on another source familiar with the matter. Lastly, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris from South Carolina have also detached themselves from the case.

A renowned lawyer from South Carolina who assembled Trump’s legal team, Bowers previously worked in the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush.

Barbier, a former federal prosecutor for one and half decades, has handled various high-profile cases. She now manages her own criminal defense firm.

Gasser and Harris were also former federal prosecutors who worked with Barbier as defense lawyers.

Howard, meanwhile, was previously an independent counsel who worked on the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky case during former President Clinton’s term. He also worked in the Justice Department for 10 years.

So far, no lawyers have announced that they would be Trump’s defense team for his impeachment case.

A source familiar with the issue spoke with CNN and said that Trump wanted the team to argue that there was massive voter fraud and that he got cheated, instead of concentrating on safeguarding himself from getting convicted. The former president was unwilling to go with the proposed strategy of the lawyers.

The lawyers have not received any fees and there was no signed intent letter.

CNN has reached out to the lawyers for comment, but hasn’t gotten any feedback yet.

Speaking with CNN, Trump’s former campaign adviser Jason Miller said that “the Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country. In fact, 45 Senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional.”

He added: “We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly.”

The last-minute development took a huge blow for Trump, who has struggled to hire lawyers who would handle his second impeachment case.

In a matter of days, the former president’s trial is about to start.

Source: CNN