News --W/ a bit more than a week before trial Trump's two lead attorneys are no long on the team.

[MelissaB]

News — With a little more than a week before his impeachment trial is set to begin, President Trump's legal team is up in the air. Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are no longer on the team, @GloriaBorger
& I are told. Story TK.

Link to tweet

[still_one]

1. Let me guess, he wouldn't pay the retainer

[keithbvadu2]

23. No pay up front, no play.

No pay up front, no play.

[leftieNanner]

2. I am SO surprised!

NOT!

Good luck finding a lawyer Ass Face!

You reap what you sow.

[trueblue2007]

46. I WANT TRUMP TO BE HIS OWN ATTORNEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD TO VIEW HIS UGLY FAT FACE FOR 8 DAYS STRAIGHT...... 5 hours every day.

[DonaldsRump]

3. Bwahahahahaha!

Nothing more to say!

[brooklynite]

4. I understand Lin Wood may be available...

[First Speaker]

13. I wish this was a joke...

[uponit7771]

22. IKR !?

[SharonClark]

5. Maybe the TX AG is available.

[Budi]

6. Bowers was s'pose to be the Big Gun!!

[VA_Jill]

7. Check must have bounced!

[malaise]

8. On CNN now n/t

[eleny]

9. I hope he represents himself

We'll need more popcorn.

[FakeNoose]

24. Chump would if he could but ...

... he has no legal credentials whatsoever. Other than being a defendant.

[ShazzieB]

10. Heeheeheehee

[magicarpet]

11. Rudy, Ellis, and "Kraken" Powell are all on standby.....

[Brother Buzz]

12. What A Revoltin' Development this is!

Is there any confirmation yet?

[catchnrelease]

31. Chester A Riley!

Lol, as soon as I read your subject line I knew who it was. Am I old or what???

[Cha]

14. TY!

[DonaldsRump]

15. No, these posts are disgraceful. This relates to the impeachment trial of a President

It is far too important to trivialize. There is only one thing to say:

[Girard442]

16. Not surprised Butch Bowers is out.

I'm still about 95% convinced he was fictitious. Seriously? Butch?

[StarfishSaver]

17. Dontcha love how these lawyers always seem to think it will go differently for them?

That they can handle the crazy that their countless number of predecessors couldn't?

[gab13by13]

41. Actually these 2 lawyers were repectable,

the fact that they quit tells me that they wouldn't lie for Trump.

[StarfishSaver]

58. That's my point. Why'd they get involved in the first place? They thought it would be different?

[Lucky Luciano]

18. Delay tactic perhaps?

“Give me time to find proper representation.”

Give him the public defender.

[orleans]

42. +1 nt

[erronis]

19. I think the ex Vermont lawyers Toensing and Digenova are available for a few $$$$s

Not that they have done anything useful yet, but the 45th time might be a charm.

[iluvtennis]

20. Link to a CNN article on this

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/30/politics/butch-bowers-deborah-barbier-trump-impeachment-team/index.html

[bucolic_frolic]

21. There's not gonna be a legal team! There will only be more "Stop the Steal" showmanship

You expect Trump to change gears? Submit to accountability? Risk pleading anything other than how unfair it all is? Where have you been hiding? That's not how Trumpie does it, and you all know better.

[wnylib]

54. Yup. This is like the Mueller investigation when

Trump wanted to testify under oath and his attorney quit while several advisors finally convinced him not to do it, but to only give written answers to a questionaire that they could go over with him.

This time, his attorneys wanted to use the angle that the trial is unconstitutional rather than actually address the legal issues of whether Trump incited an attack on the Capitol. But Trump is determined to "prove" his false claims of election fraud instead of sidestep the issue on constitutional grounds. Also, this time he does not have the group of advisors that he had had his first years in the WH.

The issue of constitutionality is interesting coming from the RWers who call themselves strict constitutionalists. The constituition does not forbid a trial after leaving office, so a strict constitutionalist should not present the argument that the trial is not constitutionally allowed.

The fact is that the impeachment occurred whle Trump was in office. The trial was delayed by the then Senate majority leader. It COULD have been held sooner. The charges and trial are timely, occurring within weeks of the crime. It is a serious and risky thing to convict someone who is out of office, but it would be worse to let a president get away with crimes during the lame duck period on the grounds that he could not be accountable since he is leaving. Especially in this case since the crime is trying to overthrow an election with an attack on Congress.

[bucolic_frolic]

59. Well stated.

Thank you.

[58Sunliner]

25. He signed someone named Josh Howard. He was at Clinton's trial. Oops-already resigned!!

Last edited Sat Jan 30, 2021, 11:17 PM - Edit history (1)

"A prominent Raleigh lawyer is joining former President Donald Trump’s legal team for the upcoming impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.

Josh Howard is a white collar defense attorney with the local firm Gammon, Howard and Zeszotarski. He has long been involved in Republican politics.

He was chairman of the N.C. State Board of Elections under former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory from 2013 to 2016." His father represented Nixon.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article248813984.html

[tiptonic]

26. I understand

I understand Congress woman Greene of Georgia, may be available. She luvs Benedict donald. For the right price too.

[patphil]

27. Donnie shouldn't have dissed Rudy. He's gonna need him, L. Lin Wood, and Sidney Powell too.

This is gonna be a real circus.

[Blue_true]

48. Sidney Powell has actually argued cases before Appellate Courts,

believe it or not.

[patphil]

52. Yeah, it is kind of amazing.

[Blue_true]

55. Not "kind of", really freaking amazing given her clear idiocy.

She must have hit her head really hard on something at some point.

[BarbD]

28. Interesting opening gambit: "Gee I can't find a lawyer"

If the Republican legal whiz kids think this is a slam dunk, why can't they step up?

[MyMission]

29. Perhaps Barr will step up to defend him

Which would be convenient, since he'd have lawyer client privilege and therefore couldn't testify about anything 45 tried to get him to do that caused him to leave his AG position, whether he was fired or quit over his refusal to support the planned insurrection.

Scary thought.
But then, maybe Barr has already been called as a witness, so he couldn't take the case.

[Cozmo]

30. Well, I hope his lack of representation doesn't postpone the trial.

[George II]

32. Here's the latest report from Kaitlan Collins. A THIRD lawyer has resigned! Explanation:

Link to tweet

[Lock him up.]

37. Crimy donny wanted them to repeat his big lie over and over...

And no pay up front (as usual).

A person familiar with the departures told CNN that Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office. Trump was not receptive to the discussions about how they should proceed in that regard.

The attorneys had not yet been paid any advance fees and a letter of intent was never signed.

[thesquanderer]

44. Too stupid! Even if he COULD prove the election was stolen...

...(which he can't, because it wasn't)...

...it would NOT be a defense for inciting a riot.

It would be like shouting fire in a crowded movie theater, and making your defense, "The movie sucked."

[SeattleVet]

33. Paging Orly Taitz! Paging Orly Taitz!

Pick up the white courtesy phone.

[MustLoveBeagles]

49. LOL

That name is a blast from the past. Why not? She probably needs the work.

[Grokenstein]

34. Haw! Butchie was the one who was supposed to strike fear into us.

Don't worry, Dim Don, Rudy is still (inexplicably) loyal to you.

[Roy Rolling]

35. Delay Tactic

Trump will ask for a delay because he has a new legal team. Wait for it.

[Marie Marie]

36. What about Jared? People say that he is qualified to do anything.

[kskiska]

38. Maybe this is why Tiffany went to law school.

I haven't heard anything about her passing a bar exam, though. Maybe now that she's engaged to a billionaire she won't need to work.

[Enoki33]

39. Guess the mango Mussolini has his own insurrection to deal with.

[spanone]

40. How can you defend the indefensible?

[Takket]

43. time to call up...........

[MustLoveBeagles]

51. Ha!

They wouldn't represent him. Even they have standards.

[patphil]

53. Besides, they are a bit inanimate now...sort of like Rudi.

[MustLoveBeagles]

57. LOL

[Goodheart]

45. So, Alan Dershowitz, how about a little pro bono?

[Blue_true]

47. My guess is they asked for payment upfront.

Trump then realized that he could not stiff them.

[gab13by13]

50. No that's not it,

all 5 lawyers quit, per CNN.

Trump wanted them to say there was massive voter fraud and that's why they all quit.

[Ford_Prefect]

56. When they hear he has lost his legal team they shouldn't hesitate. He's never going to have

competent representation. Insist on Cruz or Nunez or some other sycophant and carry on.

[Blue Owl]

60. Sucks to be tRump