Former President Trump paid lawyers who defended him in his second impeachment trial nearly $700,000, filings with the Federal Electio...
Former President Trump paid lawyers who defended him in his second impeachment trial nearly $700,000, filings with the Federal Election Commission show.
For the four-day Senate trial that ended in his acquittal, Trump’s campaign committee, which has since been renamed the Make America Great Again PAC, paid $580,000 to the Philadelphia law firm of Bruce Castor and Michael van der Veen and another $100,000 to Alabama-based lawyer David Schoen, according to filings released Saturday.
The attorneys’ defense didn’t receive high marks, with even some Republicans deeming it disorganized and chaotic.
Trump announced the trio would represent him only a week before the trial
Former President Trump paid lawyers who defended him in his second impeachment trial nearly $700,000, filings with the Federal Election Commission show
Trump announced the trio would represent him only a week before the trial.
After the House voted in favor of impeachment, the defense lawyers first filed a 78-page brief that denounced the impeachment case as partisan ‘political theater,’ and then moved to debate the constitutionality of whether the former president could be tried by the Senate, which the Senate agreed he could.
Trump’s defense lawyers and House impeachment managers then presented their case over three days. The defense used only three hours to present its case, where managers used 10.
The Senate ultimately rejected the article of impeachment for ‘incitement of an insurrection’ on Feb. 13 as it fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict.
The attorneys’ defense didn’t receive high marks, with even some Republicans deeming it disorganized and chaotic
Before the impeachment, Schoen, also a former district attorney in Pennsylvania, represented Trump's longtime ally and adviser Roger Stone
Trump’s campaign spent only $8.6 million challenging election results, drawing speculation as to whether he’s saving the cash to bolster his favorite candidates in 2022 or for another potential shot at the presidency in 2024
‘Anyone who listened to President Trump’s legal team saw they were unfocused, they attempted to avoid the issue, and they talked about everything but the issue at hand,’ Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said on Feb. 8, after the first day of arguments.
Trump’s political groups have over $100 million cash on hand, and raised $82 million in the first six months of 2021 alone. The former president had also raised a little more than $31 million last year as he told donors he needed money to challenge the 2020 election, which he falsely said had been stolen from him.
Trump’s campaign spent only $8.6 million challenging election results, drawing speculation as to whether he’s saving the cash to bolster his favorite candidates in 2022 or for another potential shot at the presidency in 2024.
'These things cost money,' Trump spokesman Jason Miller said of the second impeachment trial. He argued that the impeachment had been aimed at preventing Trump from mounting another run in the future.
'While this partisan charade was soundly defeated, and President Trump was completely exonerated, these things cost money,' Miller told Bloomberg.
Before the impeachment, Schoen, also a former district attorney in Pennsylvania, represented Trump's longtime ally and adviser Roger Stone.
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