US President Donald Trump’s legal team presented on Saturday its line of defense for his upcoming impeachment trial, a process they dismissed as unconstitutional and “dangerous”.
It was the first time the team presented its arguments, modelled on those put forward since December by Trump and his fellow Republicans.
In an initial response to the president’s being charged, written by Cipollone and Sekulow, the defense said that the articles of impeachment — passed by the majority-Democrat House of Representatives — “are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president.”
“This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election,” the team said in a statement.
President Trump defense team will include Ken Starr, whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, whose clients have included notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and O.J. Simpson.
On Thursday, Trump predicted that his impeachment trial in the US Senate will be over quickly and again dismissed abuse of power charges against him as “a hoax.”
On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the articles of impeachment charging President Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress which were delivered to the Senate.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell announced that the articles would be formally read to the chamber Thursday at noon (1700 GMT), after which Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts will be sworn in to preside over the trial. Senators will then be sworn in as jurors on Thursday, and preparations will get underway for an impeachment trial that will open on Tuesday, January 21.
On December 18, Trump was formally impeached in a historic vote in the House of Representatives.
Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the Democrats will begin drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump.
Pelosi argued that the president’s conduct when it came to Ukraine left Democrats with “no choice but to act,” charging that Trump abused the powers of the presidency and leaving little doubt that the House will hold a vote to impeach him as early as before Christmas.
On Friday, President Trump unexpectedly brought up the impeachment during a reception at the White House for the Louisiana State University football team four days after they were crowned national champions.
(With inputs from agency)