Trump Impeachment Lawyers Quit, Who Will Be Part Of His New Legal Team?

Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is set to begin on Feb. 9 and he will need a new legal team after five attorneys on Saturday left over a disagreement in his legal strategy. The legal team included attorneys Butch Bowers, Deborah Barbier, Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris.

CNN reported that a person familiar with the departures said, “Trump wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office.”

The New York Times reported that "Trump has insisted that the case is 'simple' and has told advisers he could argue it himself and save the money on lawyers. (Aides contend he is not seriously contemplating doing so.)"

The House on Jan. 13 voted to impeach Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection" after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building. Sixty-seven senators are needed to convict Trump and the Senate could hold a separate vote to bar Trump from holding office again. The Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.

Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg posted on Twitter that if the CNN report is right, "Trump wanted his lawyers to lie and they quit rather than do something unethical. It’s that simple."

The legal team shakeup means more uncertainty for Trump's defense. There have been no reports as to who will be added to the new legal team, which will be working on short notice.

According to the Times, Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed that Trump and his aides had “not made a final decision on our legal team.”

Trump's defense team for his first impeachment trial included Pam Bondi, Pat Cipollone, Alan Dershowitz, Eric Herschmann, Jane Serene Raskin, Robert Ray, Jay Sekulow and Ken Starr.

Trump isn’t planning on attending his own trial in person, NBC News reports.