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Trump fumes, GOP senators baffled by legal team’s debut

In this image from video, Bruce Castor, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, speaks during the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump fumed that his attorneys’ performance on the opening day of his second impeachment trial was a disaster, as allies and Republican senators questioned the strategy and some called for yet another shakeup to his legal team.

Trump, who was watching the proceedings in Washington from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, was furious at what he saw, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Senators, too, criticized what they described as an unfocused and rambling performance as Trump’s team and Democratic House managers began to lay out their cases in front of the Senate jury.

While it remains unlikely that more than a handful of Republicans will join Democrats in convicting the former president at the end of the trial, the proceedings were a chance for Trump to try to repair some of the damage to his legacy incurred over the storming of the Capitol by a mob of his supporters. Trump has been charged with inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, and last month he became the first president in history to be impeached by the House twice.

But Trump’s team — which was announced little more than a week ago — appeared unprepared as they attempted a good cop, bad cop routine that veered from flattery to legalese, and stood in dramatic contrast to Democrats’ focused emotional appeals.

Trump — ever the showman — was impressed with the Democrats, who opened Tuesday’s session with powerful video that compiled scenes of the deadly attack on Congress. And he complained that his team — especially lead lawyer Bruce Castor — came off badly on television and looked weak in comparison, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The anger was echoed by Trump allies, who blasted the lawyers both publicly and privately and with repeated profanities.

“There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying,” said Alan Dershowitz, an attorney who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial, as he weighed in on Castor during an appearance on Newsmax as the session was underway.

Peter Navarro, a former Trump trade adviser, had already been urging the former president to ditch his legal team and hire Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz before the trial began, warning: “You gotta get rid of those guys. These people don’t understand. This is a political trial.”

Republican members of the Senate appeared equally baffled, especially at Castor, who spent much of his time buttering up senators with compliments, praising the case made by Democrats and going on tangents.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Castor “just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument. He said Trump attorney David Schoen, who spoke second, “got around to it” and “did an effective job. But I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was not one of the finest I’ve seen.”

Before the criticism mounted, another Trump adviser described Castor’s presentation as part of a “very clear, deliberative strategy.” The adviser said that after the Democrats’ emotionally charged opening, Castor had set about “lowering the temperature” before “dropping the hammer on the unconstitutional nature of this impeachment witch hunt.”

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The hammer did not appear to hit its nail.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted with Democrats on Tuesday to move forward with the trial, said Trump’s team did a “terrible job” and was “disorganized,” “random” and “did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand.”

GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who also voted with Democrats, said she was “perplexed” by Castor, “who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, said he didn’t think the lawyers had done “the most effective job,” while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, another close ally to Trump, said he didn’t know where Castor was going with his arguments.

Trump’s team did not respond to requests for comment on the day’s events or questions about whether they are planning any shakeups to the legal team.

Asked for a response to the GOP criticism as he was leaving the trial, Castor — who had said during the trial that the team had “changed what we were going to do” at the last minute because the House managers had done a good job — would say only that “we had a good day.” Schoen told reporters that he hadn’t spoken yet to the president, but would “have to do better next time.”

“I mean, I always hope to improve. I hope I can do that,” he said.

Trump parted ways with his original impeachment team just over a week before the Senate trial was set to begin, in part because Trump wanted them to use a defense that relied on unfounded allegations of election fraud, and the lawyers were not willing to do so.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

— Associated Press

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Cory Booker says GOP move to immediately confirm Ginsburg successor undermines legitimacy of Supreme Court

Senate Judiciary Committee member Cory Booker, D-N.J., warned Republicans would harm the Supreme Court’s legitimacy by forcing through a nominee.

 

— FOX News: Tyler Olson

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Prez Trump’s Inaugural Speech aligns with brand

 

 

Today has been an “unbelievable” day for the 45th United States President, Donald J. Trump — President Trump responded to a CNN reporter during the Inauguration Parade.

 

Many thought this day would never come: For better or worse, a billionaire businessman with no public sector experience has become the president of the United States. Liberals are horrified, moderate Republicans are displeased, and the incoming Trump administration is alarmingly unprepared to take the reins. Trump, the controversial real estate scion and former reality TV star, delivered an impressive Inaugural Address and relished in his success today.

 

Some are cheering Trump as the take-charge outsider we need to end Washington dysfunction, while others fear that he is an incompetent blowhard who will provide only anger and outrage instead of leadership and guidance.

 

With little evidence as to how Trump will actually operate as America’s chief executive, the press hangs on his every word and searches for clues. Will he be as aggressive as he portrayed himself during his campaign, or will he relax into a hands-off delegator?

 

Donald Trump’s inauguration address is being examined as a preview of how the Washington outsider will run his Oval Office. Like virtually all of Trump’s politicking thus far, it is far from placid.

 

From the very beginning, Trump struck a strong populist tone, insisting that his presidency would return power “back to you, the people.” This is certainly a swipe at the outgoing Democratic administration of Barack Obama, who was accused by conservatives of engaging in significant federal overreach with the Affordable Care Act.

 

But the jab was not intended solely for the departing Democratic administration, but also at moderate Republicans: Trump proclaimed seconds later that “the establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country,” echoing his consistent displeasure with GOP elder statesmen.

 

Trump then addressed the woes of the nation, but saw them through a staunchly conservative lens: “inner cities, rusted out factories…an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge…the crime and the gangs and the drugs.”

 

The comment about the education system being “flush with cash” will undoubtedly ruffle feathers, especially among K-12 public school teachers who have faced recent budget cuts. The focus on crime, gangs, and drugs as prominent ailments of America implies that president Trump will continue the controversial “war on drugs” and insist on harsh sentencing guidelines.

 

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now” is a line that will divide citizens, with some praising Trump as a tough-on-crime advocate of order and others criticizing him as a proto-dictator looking to exaggerate problems and seek scapegoats.

 

Doubling down on order, Trump insisted that America had allowed “for the very sad depletion of our military,” implying that he will seek to increase defense spending.

 

He criticized foreign trade and foreign nations as eroding our economic strength and draining the middle class.

 

Though the last portion of Trump’s speech was more positive, seeking unity, he re-emphasized some key points that could be considered controversial: Biblical values, staunch support of military and law enforcement, and a criticism of “all talk and no action” politicians. Liberal critics of the “blue wall of silence” and the military-industrial complex are undoubtedly wary.

 

Though he remained a populist and was true to his brand, eschewing the usual Republican line of being pro-business and pro-free trade, Trump did signal an alliance with the defense hawk wing of the GOP by vowing to restore military funding. The prominent reference of Biblical values may have been intended as an olive branch to religious conservatives, many of whom have been ambivalent about supporting the former Republican nominee due to his extramarital affairs. Nevertheless, his strongest vow, throughout his address, was to the people.

 

By promising to never let the American people down, Donald Trump is taking a substantial risk. True to form, he chose an optimistic, aggressive message of guaranteed growth and success. He is playing to the crowd, promising results, but he stands to fall hard in 2020 if his administration has not delivered unparalleled security and prosperity.

 

This begs the question of whether or not Trump has considered re-election strategies. In an era where every utterance, tweet, or text is saved online forever, the ambitious promises made in an inauguration address could quickly become opposition fodder when miracles don’t occur. Remember George Bush Sr. and “no new taxes”?

 

All in all, Trump’s inauguration address had few major surprises. He did not deviate from the themes and tones of his unorthodox presidential campaign, which made ample use of tough talk and confrontation. He stuck to his guns on destroying ISIS, “bring[ing] back our borders,” and getting people “off welfare.” One thing he did not mention, however, was health care. And, there was also no explicit reference to a border wall. Does this signal that Trump is concerned about his ability to accomplish those two major reforms as originally planned?

 

It was a speech full of confidence, with a dash of defiance, and with little show of willingness to compromise. Liberals likely hated it, and conservatives probably loved it. In sum, Trump’s first speech as president was consistent with his brand, with the exact same tone as his controversial campaigns. He continued with his theme to “Make America Great Again.”