Trump Impeachment Lawyers Named After 5 Members Of Defense Team Quit

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday named two new lawyers to lead his legal team for his second impeachment trial in the Senate.

Attorneys David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor Jr. are set to head Trump’s legal team after five attorneys who had joined the ex-POTUS' defense team left in a span of about two weeks before the trial.

"Schoen has already been working with the 45th President and other advisors to prepare for the upcoming trial, and both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional -- a fact 45 Senators voted in agreement with last week," the release said.

Trump’s former attorneys, Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, announced their departure after the former president refused to steer away from using widespread election fraud as his defense. The team of lawyers wanted to focus on the legality of convicting a president after he’s left office, but Trump wasn't receptive, a source with knowledge of the conversation told CNN.

Trump has struggled to retain lawyers willing to represent him in the trial. Following Bowers' and Barbier's departure, two other attorneys, Josh Howard of North Carolina, and Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, partners in a South Carolina criminal defense practice, joined Trump's legal team, but left shortly after.

It is unclear if Schoen and Castor will ultimately abide by Trump's voter-fraud strategy.

Schoen, who focuses on complex civil and criminal cases, currently serves as chair of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Civil Rights Litigation Committee, according to his website.

Castor is a well-regarded attorney in Pennsylvania who previously worked as a district attorney in Montgomery County. In 2005, Castor declined to file sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby, after Andrea Constand accused the the famous comedian of sexual assault, citing “insufficient credible and admissible evidence.”

"With the agreement of the defense lawyer and Andrea's lawyers, I intentionally and specifically bound the Commonwealth that there would be no state prosecution of Cosby in order to remove him from the ability to claim his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, thus forcing him to sit for a deposition under oath,” Castor had said.

On Jan. 13, House Democrats, along with 10 Republicans, voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. House managers delivered the charges to the Senate.

Trump’s impeachment trial at the Senate is set to take place on Feb. 9.