WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump believed the performance of his lawyers on the opening day of his second indictment was a disaster as allies and Republican senators questioned the strategy, and some called for another stir in his legal team.
Trump, who has been watching the proceedings in Washington from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, was furious at what he saw, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senators, too, have voiced criticism of what they described as an unfair and shaky performance when Trump’s team and Democratic House executives began setting out their cases before the Senate jury.
While it is unlikely that more than a handful of Republicans at the end of the trial will convict the former president of the Democrats, the proceedings were a chance for Trump to try to damage his legacy due to the Capitol storm. by a crowd of his supporters. Trump is accused of inciting the uprising on January 6, and last month he became the first president in history to be charged twice by the House.
But Trump’s team – announced less than a week ago – appeared unprepared when they tried to stand a good policeman, a bad policeman routine, which changed from vlei to legal, and stood in dramatic contrast to Democrats’ focused emotional appeal.
Trump – once the showman – was impressed with the Democrats, who opened Tuesday’s session with powerful videos compiling scenes of the deadly attack on Congress. And he complained that his team – especially Chief Attorney Bruce Castor – came across badly on television and looked weak according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The anger was repeated by Trump allies, who exploded the lawyers in public and privately and with repeated blasphemies.
“There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he says what he says, “said Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer who represented Trump in his first indictment, while weighing Castor during a Newsmax appearance while the session was in progress.
Peter Navarro, a former Trump trade adviser, has already urged the former president to drop his legal team and hire Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz before the trial begins, warning: ‘You need to get rid of those guys. These people do not understand. This is a political trial. ”
Republican members of the Senate appeared equally stunned, especially against Castor, who spent much of his time with senators with compliments, praising and continuing the case by the Democrats.
GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas said Castor “just staggered and did not address the constitutional argument. He said Trump attorney David Schoen, who spoke second, “got it right” and “did an effective job.” But I have seen many advocates and many arguments, and it was not one of the most beautiful I have seen. ”
Before the criticism began, another Trump adviser described Castor’s presentation as part of a “very clear, deliberate strategy.” The adviser said that after the emotionally charged opening of the Democrats, Castor decided to “lower the temperature” before dropping the hammer on the unconstitutional nature of this witch hunt.
It looks like the hammer is not hitting its nail.
Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted with Democrats on Tuesday to continue the trial, said Trump’s team did a “terrible job” and was “disorganized,” “random” and “did everything. did what they could, except to get over the question at hand. ”
GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who also voted with Democrats, said she was “surprised” by Castor, “who apparently did not argue at all, which was an unusual approach.”
Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, one of Trump’s strongest allies, said he did not think the lawyers did ‘the most efficient job’, while Senator Lindsey Graham, another Trump ally, said he did not know. where Castor goes with his arguments.
Trump’s team did not respond to requests for comment on the day’s events or questions about whether they plan any upheavals to the legal team.
Castor, who said during the trial that the team had ‘changed what we were going to do’ at the last minute, asked for an answer to the GOP criticism when he left the trial. – would just say that “we had a good day.” Schoen told reporters that he had not yet spoken to the president, but that he would ‘have to do better next time’.
“I mean, I always hope to improve. I hope I can do it, “he said.
Trump divorced with his original indictment just over a week before the Senate trial was due to begin, in part because Trump wanted them to use a defense that relied on unfounded allegations of electoral fraud, and the lawyers were unwilling to do so.
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Associated Press author Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.