Several Republicans, including some of former President Donald Trump\u2019s most ardent defenders, said they were confused and concerned by his lawyers\u2019 rambling, unfocused opening salvos in Trump\u2019s impeachment trial.<\/p>\n
The Senate began hearing arguments on Tuesday over whether a president can be impeached after leaving office. While Democrats spent hours detailing, with explicit video and social media footage, Trump\u2019s effort to support the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Trump lawyer Bruce Castor offered a strange defense of his client that touched on free speech and the partisan nature of impeachments but rarely the constitutionality of doing so post-administration.<\/p>\n
The tactic perplexed some Republicans.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s team was disorganized,\u201d Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who voted with Democrats to uphold the constitutionality of the trial, said after the vote. \u201cIf I\u2019m an impartial juror, and one side is doing a great job, and the other side is doing a terrible job on the issue at hand, as an impartial juror, I\u2019m going to vote for the side that did the good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought the president\u2019s lawyer, the first lawyer, just rambled on and on and on and didn\u2019t really address the constitutional argument,\u201d Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was not one of the finest I\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was perplexed by the first attorney, who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take,\u201d said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who voted with Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really stunned at the first attorney who presented for former President Trump,\u201d said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who also voted with Democrats. \u201cI couldn\u2019t figure out where he was going \u2026 spent 45 minutes going somewhere, but I don\u2019t think he helped us better understand where he was coming from on the constitutionality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the lawyers did the most effective job,\u201d Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said, calling Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the Democrats\u2019 lead impeachment manager, \u201cimpressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a stalwart defender of Trump throughout his administration, said he \u201cdidn\u2019t really know\u201d where Castor was going.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Six Republicans and every Democrat voted shortly after the arguments to affirm the constitutionality of Trump\u2019s impeachment trial, although the 56-44 tally bodes poorly for any effort to convict Trump, which will require 67 senators.<\/p>\n
Castor told reporters shortly after the vote that he \u201cthought we had a good day\u201d and that he had no plans to make any changes to his trial strategy following the criticism.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I set up the outline a week ago and it will not change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
David Schoen, another lawyer defending Trump, said on Tuesday that the trial would \u201ctear the country in half,\u201d accusing Democrats of using the process to further divide the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a matter of policy,\u201d he said, \u201cit is wrong, as wrong can be for all of us as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump himself was reportedly confused and frustrated by the defense. The New York Times reported he was \u201cshocked\u201d that Castor praised Democrats\u2019 case in his early remarks. CNN echoed that reporting:<\/p>\n
The trial began Tuesday with a harrowing video compilation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, emphasizing Trump\u2019s role fanning the flames of the deadly insurrection and his work to spread lies about the results of the 2020 election. Raskin said the then-president\u2019s words amounted to the definition of a high crime and misdemeanor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing,\u201d he said. Raskin recounted his own experience last month, telling how he became separated from his family during the riot and that his daughter and son-in-law feared they were going to die.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there was the sound that I will never forget: the sound of pounding on the door like a battering ram,\u201d Raskin added. \u201cThe most haunting sound I ever heard and I will never forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n