Former President Donald Trump's five impeachment defense attorneys left less than two weeks before his trial, amid disagreements over his legal strategy, CNN reported on Sunday.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, who were expected to be two of the lead attorneys, are no longer on the team.
Being the lead attorney, Bowers assembled the team, as the decision was mutual for both to leave before the trial, according to a source familiar with the changes.
Other than Barbier and Bowers; Josh Howard, a North Carolina attorney who was recently added to the team, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris, also from South Carolina, are no longer involved with the case.
No other attorneys have announced they are working on Trump's impeachment defense.
Trump urged his attorneys to argue that there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him, rather than focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office.
Trump was not receptive to the discussions about how they should proceed in that regard, a person familiar with the departures told CNN.
"The Democrats' efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country," former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said. "In fact, 45 Senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional.”
“We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly," Miller added.
Last Tuesday, forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort to halt the former President’s impeachment trial, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign he will not be convicted of inciting insurrection at the Capitol.
The US House of Representatives majority has voted for the impeachment over the latest Capitol riots, which made him the first US President to be impeached twice.
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