Trump was 'borderline screaming' and 'deeply unhappy' over his defense lawyers' performance in his impeachment trial, per report

Authored by businessinsider.com and submitted by mephisto2k2

Trump was "deeply unhappy" with his lawyers' performance during his impeachment trial on Tuesday.

CNN reported that sources close to Trump say the former president was "borderline screaming."

The House impeached Trump on a charge of "incitement of insurrection" over the January 6 Capitol riot.

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Former President Donald Trump was "deeply unhappy" with his defense at his impeachment trial on Tuesday, according to a CNN report.

Multiple sources familiar with the former president's reactions told CNN that Trump was "borderline screaming" over his lawyers' performance on Tuesday, particularly taking issue with attorney Bruce Castor's rambling opening remarks.

Trump's team was also confused over a last-minute decision to swap the order of his defense. Castor, who spoke first, had originally been scheduled to speak after attorney David Schoen. People close to Trump thought their new strategy wasn't strong and did not appreciate when Castor praised the opposing side during his arguments, CNN reported.

"I'll be quite frank with you. We changed what we were going to do on account that we thought that the House managers' presentation was well done," Castor said during his remarks.

Castor's praise of the Democrats' case particularly infuriated Trump, according to The New York Times.

The outlet also reported that some members of Trump's legal team were surprised by prosecutors' choice to show raw video clips from the day of the attack, despite Democrats indicating for days that they would do so.

Castor's behavior so irritated the former president that he reportedly began to question why he had even hired the Pennsylvania lawyer, according to The Daily Beast. One source familiar with the matter told The Beast that Trump was even considering pulling Castor from his legal team, leaving the remaining arguments on the shoulders of the rest of the defense, in particular, Schoen.

Tuesday was the first day of Trump's impeachment trial, which is likely to continue throughout the week. The House impeached Trump on January 13 on a charge of "incitement of insurrection" related to the deadly Capitol riot on January 6. The main argument by the former president's legal team is that his impeachment trial is unconstitutional because Trump no longer holds public office. Several legal scholars have dismissed the theory.

At least a handful of Republican senators also said on Tuesday that Trump's defense was executed poorly. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who defected from his party and voted on Tuesday to declare the impeachment trial constitutional, called Trump's lawyers "unfocused."

Still, the trial is likely to end up in Trump's acquittal, as every Democratic senator and 17 Republicans would have to vote "yes" in order to convict the former president. A majority of Republicans have previously signaled that they do not support his impeachment.

confrontingd3mons on February 9th, 2021 at 23:55 UTC »

Rightwingers always said that dems and deep state is leaking stuff when trump was in office. Who is leaking now? Haha

Twoweekswithpay on February 9th, 2021 at 23:52 UTC »

Former President Donald Trump was "deeply unhappy" with his defense at his impeachment trial on Tuesday, according to a CNN report.

Multiple sources familiar with the former president's reactions told CNN that Trump was "borderline screaming" over his lawyers' performance on Tuesday, particularly taking issue with attorney Bruce Castor's rambling opening remarks.

Trump's team was also confused over a last-minute decision to swap the order of his defense. Castor, who spoke first, had originally been scheduled to speak after attorney David Schoen. People close to Trump thought their new strategy wasn't strong and did not appreciate when Castor praised the opposing side during his arguments, CNN reported.

The only person he should be mad at is himself. You get what you pay (or not pay) for... 🤨🤦🏽‍♂️

SquallFromGarden on February 9th, 2021 at 23:50 UTC »

If he didn't want his lawyers speaking for him, he could have showed up himself.

OH WAIT.