Sources close to former President Trump say he is “furious” with his defense counsel’s performance on the first day of the Senate trial. Trump watched the trial from his residence in Mar-a-Lago and was reportedly impressed by lead impeachment manager, Jamie Raskin’s opening remarks but was less than impressed by his own attorney Bruce Castor.
According to reports from Fox News:
The sources, who spent time with Trump, said he was particularly incensed with the effort thus far by his attorney Bruce Castor. Trump believes Castor gave a rambling opening argument, they said. Castor’s 45-minute opening remarks were widely panned on social media after he praised the House impeachment managers for a job “well done.”
Castor defended his performance in an interview after learning that Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., moved to side with Democrats, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“You put 100 people in the same room, you’re going to get 100 different opinions. We only lost one…so I believe we had a good day,” he said. Castor clarified that his “well done” statement was not an acknowledgment that the Democrat case was more effective.
Despite the near-certainty this impeachment trial will end in acquittal Trump’s defense team still has a long battle ahead.
After the harsh criticism from Republicans, Trump’s defense team has vowed to “do better” in the next days of the trial. David Schoen acknowledged the comments from Trump as well as GOPers who commented that the counsel’s performance was difficult to follow, specifically remarks from Sen. Cassidy who called the argument “unfocused.”
According to The Hill:
“I’m sorry he felt that way,” Schoen told USA Today, when asked about Cassidy’s remarks. “I’ll have to do better next time.”
Most of the criticism from GOP senators was not aimed at Schoen, but rather at Bruce Castor, who was the first member of Trump’s legal team to take the floor after Democrats opened the Senate trial with an emotional video tying Trump’s Jan. 6 speech to the deadly riots that overtook the Capitol.
“Anyone who listened to President Trump’s legal team saw they were unfocused, they attempted to avoid the issue and they talked about everything but the issue at hand.”
Cassidy and five other Republicans joined Democrats on Tuesday in voting to move forward with the trial. Cassidy’s vote was a surprise, as last month he voted that it was illegal to impeach a former president.
Despite the rocky first day from Trump’s defense team Schoen says he is confident they will bounce back.
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