Trump’s lead impeachment attorney Pat Cipollone
President Trump’s lawyers are going to come out swinging in a scorched-earth campaign targeting the Bidens to counter-punch the Democrats in the impeachment trial.
Trump’s lawyers will begin their defense Saturday but most of their work will take place on Monday.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s lawyers will be targeting the Bidens as well as going line by line and rebutting allegations made by the House impeachment managers.
Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, and Jay Sekulow, Trump’s personal attorney, plan to use their time in the trial to target the former vice president and his son, Hunter, according to multiple GOP officials familiar with the strategy. Trump’s allies believe that if they can argue that the president had a plausible reason for requesting the Biden investigation in Ukraine, they can both defend him against the impeachment charges and gain the added bonus of undercutting a political adversary.
The emerging strategy comes as the White House has heard conflicting advice from Republicans eager to share their opinion on the best rebuttal. In recent weeks, there has been a quiet, behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign by both GOP senators and Trump’s House allies on his defense team, creating confusion among Republicans about which strategy the White House will adopt.
The deliberations occasionally have been marked by intense discussions, including debates about whether to push a process-focused case against Democrats or to take on each of their points and accusations individually, according to senators and congressional aides familiar with the talks. Over the past 24 hours, the debate has focused more on how much time should be dedicated to going after the Bidens.
Senator Ted Cruz this week said it was an odd strategic decision by the House impeachment managers to focus on Burisma.
Cruz said the Democrats may have unintentionally thrown Biden under the bus by focusing on Burisma because Trump’s attorneys will be able to present evidence that supports an investigation into whether Joe Biden participated in Burisma corruption.
“Focus on what matters, which is the substance,” Cruz said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Friday morning outlining his advice to Trump’s team.“And I told them, ‘Look, nothing matters more than the facts on Burisma.’ . . . Lay out substantive, factual reasons why investigating Burisma, the president had a responsibility to do so.”
Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow put the Dems on notice this week and said, “I assure you we will be putting on vigorous defense of both facts and rebutting what they’ve said.”
