Chronicle Editor
Washington -Former president Donald Trump is changing his legal defence team with just a little more than week before his second impeachment trial is scheduled to open in the Senate.
A Trump spokesman, Jason Miller, confirmed Saturday evening that the previously designated lead attorney for Trump, Karl Bowers, a well-regarded South Carolina ethics lawyer, will no longer be part of the team representing the former president when the Senate trial begins February 9.
One of the deputies Bowers had tapped, Deborah Barbier, a former South Carolina prosecutor, will also no longer be part of the team, Miller said.
The House impeachment article charges Trump with “incitement of insurrection” in the invasion of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 by a pro-Trump mob. Since the House voted to impeach Trump, he has struggled to put together a legal team to mount his defence, in part because prominent lawyers seemed unwilling to associate themselves with Trump’s continued false claims that he actually won the election. That claim inspired his supporters to attack the Capitol.
The fate of two additional team members from South Carolina, Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, was not immediately clear. They had not officially been named as part of the team, Miller said.
A person familiar with the change described it as a “mutual decision” for the lead South Carolina lawyers to leave the team. The shift comes amid tight deadlines to prepare for the trial. The House impeachment managers must file their briefs in the case on February 2. Trump’s defence team lawyers must file their briefs by February 8.
New defence team members could be announced shortly, Miller said in a text message late Saturday.
“The Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional,” Miller said in a statement sent to reporters Saturday night. “We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly.”
Neither Bowers nor the other South Carolina lawyers responded to requests for comment Saturday. It was not clear why the previously announced South Carolina lawyers were departing.
Late last week, people familiar with Trump’s developing defence strategy said that four South Carolina lawyers would be the nucleus of the Trump team.
Their selection marked a dramatic shift from Trump’s previous impeachment. During that Senate trial last year, Trump was defended by lawyers experienced on the national stage. They included Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor whose work led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment; Jay Sekulow, who had defended Trump previously; and Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor, known for his work in high-profile controversial cases.
The departure of the South Carolina lawyers from the team is likely to come as a disappointment to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who had recommended Bowers.
“They really have the A-team from South Carolina,” said Matt Moore, former chairman of the state Republican Party.
In recent days, it was disclosed that Bowers had a $400 000 federal tax lien on his property in Columbia, S.C. He told The Washington Post in an interview that the lien had been resolved.-IOL.
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