impeachment

Trump Lawyers Exit After He Pushed Them to Cite Baseless Voter Fraud Claims

Lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor will lead the legal team that will handle Trump's second impeachment trial in the Senate

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

A team of attorneys has parted ways with Donald Trump after the former president asked them to focus on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud as part of his defense strategy, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

At least three lawyers — Butch Bowers, Deborah Barbier and Joshua Howard — decided to leave the legal team after being asked to focus on the claims of fraud in the election that he lost as part of his defense strategy, the sources said.

Earlier, a source had said it had been a "mutual decision" to part ways ahead of Trump's second impeachment trial in the Senate.

Two new attorneys — David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr. — were named Sunday evening, just days before a pre-trial brief is due for the impeachment trail that is set to begin a week from Tuesday.

Trump wanted his original team to falsely argue he won the election and continue his baseless suggestions the presidential race was somehow “rigged,” per one person with knowledge of the discussions, but the attorneys were not comfortable with amplifying misinformation. Instead, they wanted to use a Constitutional argument.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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