Sens Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah were spotted walking to a room in the U.S. Capitol where Trump’s lawyers used to prepare their arguments.
Trump attorney David Schoen said the senators were “very friendly guys” who just wanted to make sure they were “familiar with the procedure” in front of their refutation of the House Manager’s presentation.
Asked if it was appropriate to meet with senators during the trial, Schoen said: “Oh yes, I think that is the practice of indictment.”
“There is nothing in this case that has any semblance of the right process,” he added.
Some senators consider themselves impartial jurors during indictments, while others lend a hand to the party’s side.
Republican senators have already indicated they will vote to acquit the former president of the charge of ‘incitement to insurgency’, which will prevent a subsequent vote on Trump’s political future. In a 50-50 Senate, the House of Representatives – all Democrats – must persuade 17 Republican senators to join every member of their party to convict Trump.
Cruz said the meeting with the Trump defense team was an opportunity to ‘share our thoughts’ on their legal strategy. A wide range of Senate Republicans vehemently criticized the defense team on Tuesday, the opening day of the trial, arguing that Trump lawyer Bruce Castor made a shaky and unjustified argument to run the case that the proceedings are unconstitutional.
Asked if he was comfortable with the Trump team’s legal strategy, Cruz said: “I think the end result of this indictment is crystal clear to everyone.”
“Donald Trump will be acquitted,” he added. “It takes 67 votes to convict him and every person in the Senate understands that there are no votes to be convicted, nor.”
Clare Foran, Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.