WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s attorney David Schoen said he would “have to do better next time” after several Republican senators criticized Monday’s presentation by Trump’s legal team, with one calling them “disorganized” and some instead praising the case made by Democratic impeachment managers.
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Schoen said he thought the House managers “did a good job” and acknowledged the criticisms made by some, including Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., that their arguments didn’t stick.
“I’m sorry he felt that way,” Schoen said of Cassidy’s critiques. “I’ll have to do better next time.”
Cassidy was one of six Republican senators who voted Monday to deem the impeachment trial constitutional and move forward with the proceedings. The Senate is debating whether to convict Trump for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Trump’s lawyers had argued it would be unconstitutional to go forward with the trial because Trump was no longer in office, whereas House prosecutors, known as managers, argued the opposite based on historical and legal precedent.
The Louisiana Republican praised the House managers’ case as “focused” and “organized,” but said Trump’s team was “disorganized” and “did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand.”
“Now if I’m an impartial juror, and one side is doing a great job, and the other side is doing a terrible job, on the issue at hand, as an impartial juror, I’m going to vote for the side that did the good job,” Cassidy said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was “stunned” by the presentation by Trump’s first attorney to present, Bruce Castor, and could not figure out where his argument was going. She said Schoen “did a better job” but Castor’s arguments were a “missed opportunity.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Schoen made his arguments “very well,” but Castor’s arguments “perplexed” her, and it seemed to her the attorney “did not seem to make any arguments at all.”
A close Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., conceded it “took a long time” for Trump’s lawyers to get to the “meat of the question.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a former member of Senate Republican leadership, said Castor “rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument.”
“I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was… not one of the finest I’ve seen,” he said.
Schoen told reporters he did not think there would be any adjustments after today’s proceedings but had yet to speak to Trump.
Castor, on the other hand, called Monday’s arguments a “good day” and said he did not expect any changes to Trump’s legal team.
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), second from right, and other House Managers walk through the United States Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate Chambers to begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb 9, 2021.
A video projection near Union Station in Washington, DC displays scenes from the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill insurrection on the first day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb. 9, 2021.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leads the final vote of the impeachment of President Donald Trump, for his role in inciting an angry mob to storm the Congress last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 13, 2021.
President Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Pro-Trump rioters stand on the West front of the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
Police with guns drawn watch as pro-Trump rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
People gather at the base of the U.S. Capitol with large IMPEACH and REMOVE letters on Jan. 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. The group is calling on Congress to impeach and remove President Donald Trump on the day that Democrats introduced articles of impeachment in response to Trump’s incitement of a mob entering the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6.
Photographer take pictures of the article of impeachment against President Trump during an engrossment ceremony after the House of Representatives voted to impeach him at the Capitol, Jan. 13, 2021, in Washington, DC.
Impeachment managers (L-R) Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and others walk through Statuary Hall while heading to vote to impeach President Trump for the second time in little over a year in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump on the charge of Òincitement of insurrection” after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol where Congress was working to certify the Electoral College victory of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 6. 10 Republicans voted to impeach.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (R) and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA) (L), alongside House Impeachment Managers (from L) Representatives Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), look on as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) prepares to sign the article of impeachment during an engrossment ceremony after the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump at the US Capitol, Jan/ 13, 2021, in Washington, DC.
An image on a monitor shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding the articles of impeachment, as another monitor (R rear) shows President Trump speaking in a video, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Jan. 13, 2021.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) leads other House impeachment mangers to the Senate floor as they prepare for the trial of former US President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill Feb. 8, 2021, in Washington, DC. Donald Trump committed the “most grievous constitutional crime” of any US president when he incited supporters to storm the Capitol last month, Democratic prosecutors said Monday on the eve of his Senate impeachment trial.
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), second from right, and other House Managers walk through the United States Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate Chambers to begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb 9, 2021.
Congressmen Jim Jordan (R-OH), left, Andy Biggs, (R-AZ), center, and Mike Johnson, (R-LA), right, walk through the United States Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate Chambers to begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb. 9, 2021
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, presides over the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 9, 2021.
Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-MD, speaks during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 9, 2021.
House Impeachment manger Rep. Joe Neguse, D-CO, speaks during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 9, 2021.
