David Schoen, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, says he will “have to do better” after a group of Republican senators slammed his defense on the first day of the Senate impeachment trial.
He noted criticism from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) who suggested the arguments from Trump’s team were weak.
“I’m sorry he felt that way,” Schoen told USA Today. “I’ll have to do better next time.”
Cassidy praised the House impeachment managers and described their arguments as “focused, relied upon and trusted upon the opinion of legal scholars.”
He then moved on to call the arguments from Trump’s team “unfocused.”
“They attempted to avoid the issue. And they talked about everything, but the issue at hand,” Cassidy said.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) mentioned Trump’s other lawyer Bruce Castor, as IJR reported.
“I was perplexed by the first attorney, who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take,” she said.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) offered his take on the legal team.
“I thought the President’s lawyer, the first lawyer just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument,” he said.
Cornyn explained, “Finally, the second lawyer got around to it and I thought, did an effective job but I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was it was not one of the finest I’ve seen.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also said she was “really stunned” by Castor’s arguments.
“I couldn’t figure out where he was going, spent 45 minutes going somewhere, but I don’t think he helped with us better understand where he was coming from on the constitutionality,” Murkowski said.
Alan Dershowitz, one of Trump’s attorneys from the first impeachment trial, blasted Castor, as IJR reported.
“There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying,” he said. “Come on, the American people are entitled to an argument, a constitutional argument.”
It is likely the former President is still acquitted after only six Republicans sided with Democrats to declare the trial constitutional.