It’s Day 2 of former President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate and hopefully his lawyers do a better job today than they did yesterday.
Sen. Bill Cassidy said Trump’s legal team was “disorganized” and “did everything they could but talk about the question at hand”:
Wow Cassidy absolutely goes off on Trump legal team
“The House managers were focused, they were organized … they made a compelling argument. President Trump’s team, they were disorganized, they did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) February 9, 2021
Sen. John Cornyn also called out their legal argument, saying it “was not one of the finest I’ve seen”:
Republican John Cornyn on Trump's legal team: "I've seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was not one of the finest I've seen."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 9, 2021
And “even” Sen. Lindsey Graham had harsh words for the attorneys:
Even @LindseyGrahamSC says the Trump legal team was hard to follow:
"I thought I knew where it was going, and I really didn’t know where it was going."
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) February 9, 2021
Trump was reportedly “furious” at how it went down:
Trump was furious at what he saw as he watched from his home in Florida, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Senators also criticized what they described as an unfocused and rambling performance by Trump's legal team. @JonLemire @colvinj https://t.co/hwjbHvvxdl
— darlene superville (@dsupervilleap) February 10, 2021
According to the NYT, he was particularly incensed at Bruce Castor what had praised the House managers and their presentation:
"Mr. Castor, the first to speak, delivered a rambling, almost somnambulant defense of the former president for nearly an hour. Mr. Trump, who often leaves the television on in the background even when he is holding meetings, was furious." https://t.co/uzL513XodY
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 10, 2021
One source told the NYT Trump was an 8 out of 10 on the anger scale:
After seeing Castor’s woeful performance, “On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump ‘was an eight’”
Via @maggieNYT https://t.co/EhmeGyxQuB
— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) February 10, 2021
Later on, in an interview with Sean Hannity, David Schoen hinted that Castor wouldn’t be heard from today:
Interesting answer from Schoen to Hannity on Castor not expecting to speak today. pic.twitter.com/0venj9dthz
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 10, 2021
Of note, Michael T. van der Veen, an attorney brought on by Castor, once reportedly called Trump a “f–ing crook”:
Trump’s new lawyer on Trump: As recently as two years ago, according to a former client, van der Veen described Trump as a “f—ing crook.” https://t.co/HRoeo2hePZ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 10, 2021
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