Trump shares with prosecutors a week before trial

WASHINGTON Former President Donald Trump has accused some of his lawyers in court, just over a week before his Senate hearing was due to begin, two people familiar with the situation said on Saturday.

Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, both lawyers in South Carolina, are no longer with Trump’s defense team. One of the people described the farewell as a ‘mutual decision’ that reflected a disagreement over the direction of the case. Both insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.

One said new additions to the legal team are expected to be announced in a day or two.

The upheaval injects fresh uncertainty into the composition and strategy of Trump’s defense team as he prepares to face charges of inciting the uprising at the US Capitol on January 6. rejected the trial even before it began, and it is clear that a conviction of the former president is unlikely, regardless of his defense team.

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One of the people also says that Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, two former South Carolina federal prosecutors, are not with the team.

According to another person who is aware of the legal hires, Bowers and Barbier left the team because Trump wanted them to use a defense that relies on allegations of election fraud, and the lawyers are not willing to do that. The person was not authorized to speak in public about the situation and asked for anonymity.

Trump has struggled to find lawyers willing to defend him after becoming the first president in history to be charged twice. He will stand trial on the week of February 8 on charges that he incited his supporters to storm Congress before President Joe Biden’s inauguration in an attempt to stem the peaceful transition of power.

After numerous lawyers who had previously defended him refused to take up the case, Trump was introduced to Bowers by one of his closest allies in the Senate, sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina.

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Bowers, a well-known figure in Republican legal circles, had years of experience representing elected officials and political candidates, including the then-government organization Mark Carolina of South Carolina, against a failed accusation that turned into an ethical inquiry.

Bowers and Barbier did not immediately return messages Saturday night.

Republicans and Trump aides have made it clear they intend to make a simple argument at trial: Trump’s trial is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office.

While Republicans in Washington seemed eager to separate from Trump after the deadly events on January 6, they have since eased their criticism, and were tired of angering the former president’s loyal voter base.

CNN was the first to report the departure of the lawyers.

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Associated Press author Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.