Watergate Lawyer Thinks Trump Wrote His Own Impeachment Legal Brief

The White House-released legal brief about President Trump's impeachment trial was so irreverent of facts that a legal expert suspected that the President himself has dictated parts of it.

The brief, released on Saturday, accused Democrats of violating the Constitution and attempting to reverse the results of the 2016 election. John Dean, who once served as legal counsel for Richard Nixon, questioned the “scorched earth” tactic while discussing the brief on CNN on Sunday. The brief tried to portray the entire impeachment process as a sham based on flimsy pretenses.

“Lawyers are not going to buy into this. Most members of the Senate, both parties, are lawyers,” Dean explained. He said that the brief’s attempt to distort facts and justify Trump’s violation of the law won’t stand up well under legal scrutiny.

Dean doesn’t think the legal brief is really intended as a legal document for Congress, though. “I actually thought Trump might have dictated part of this brief…. It’s of that vernacular. It’s not legally sophisticated. It actually plays to the base,” said Dean.

With the Senate’s impeachment trial of Trump set to formally begin on Tuesday, the president and his legal team have been scrambling to prepare a defense. The narrative being pushed by Trump and his team since the beginning argues that the impeachment is purely a political move by Democrats. Given Trump’s various remarks in the past, it would not be a stretch to learn that Trump did indeed help draft the recent legal brief, given its similar talking points and a lack of legal nuance.

Trump’s legal team, however, likely realizes that the trial will almost certainly play out to the president’s advantage.

The upcoming trial will determine whether Trump engaged in abusing his powers as president and whether he actively interfered with Congress’ investigation of this alleged abuse. While many observers believe the likely outcome will be Trump’s acquittal – given that not only do Republicans control the Senate majority but several senior senators have already stated that they will not vote to convict – the stain of impeachment will likely follow Trump into the fall.