WASHINGTON: Former US President Donald Trump abruptly parted ways on Saturday with two lawyers who had been working on his defense for his Senate impeachment trial in what a source familiar with the situation described as a mutual decision.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barberi, two South Carolina lawyers, are no longer on Trump’s team, the source said. The source described the move as a “mutual decision.”
It leaves Trump’s defense team in turmoil as he prepares for a trial starting on Feb. 8 to consider an article of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives charging Trump with inciting the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by his followers.
“The Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country,” said Trump adviser Jason Miller.
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“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,” Miller said.
Forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort last Tuesday to halt Trump’s impeachment trial, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign he will not be convicted of inciting insurrection at the Capitol.
