Category: David Schoen

Report: Trump’s Own Impeachment Lawyer Called Him A ‘Fu**ing Crook’

Posted on by Becky Noble

As Donald Trump’s impeachment legal team began arguments in the second day of the trial, The Daily Mail reported that Trump lawyer Michael Van der Veen had once called him “a fu**ing crook.”

According to the report, Van der Veen’s comments happened while working on a 2019 case in which a student was accused of hacking IRS databases in order to obtain Donald Trump’s tax records.

The current defense team was assembled in a hurry. David Schoen and former Montgomery County Pennsylvania District Attorney Bruce Castor came on board just last Sunday.

Van der Veen was also brought in last week to assist. 

RELATED: Lindsey Graham Rips Impeachment – ‘We’re Doing A Lot Of Damage To The Country Because People Hate Trump

A Curious Addition

Van der Veen’s former client stated that he was not sure if the ‘crook’ comments were an attempt to make him more comfortable or if they were the genuine beliefs of Van der Veen.

Van der Veen has denied the allegation.

Even more curious, a Washington Post report states that Van der Veen sued Trump last year over Trump making claims that mail-in voting was “ripe with fraud” despite having “no evidence to support these claims.”

Conservative commentators have often wondered aloud about some of Trump’s hires. This one will no doubt draw many questions.

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Trump Legal Team Off To A Shaky Start?

In a report from Politico, sources close to Trump say that the former president was not happy with the legal team’s performance. 

Widely criticized for his performance was Bruce Castor.

Castor gave a disjointed 45-minute opening statement that confused many as it seemed that Castor often struggled to find a point.

Among the bewildering strategies was Castor stating that Donald Trump lost the election fairly.

This was a departure from reports that neither Castor or Schoen had planned to bring up any mention of a stolen election, but planned on arguing constitutionality of an impeachment trail against a president who is out of office.

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz also did not have good things to say about the team’s first day, saying they did not do well.

Of Castor, Dershowitz said, “I have no idea what he is doing.”

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President Trump Unhappy And Frustrated

According to multiple outlets, sources close to Trump claim that, as defense attorneys meandered through opening statements, the President appeared to be getting frustrated as they gave timid responses to the prosecution.

The source also said that Trump saw the team’s performance as a missed opportunity, and was also bothered by the public criticism of his attorneys.   

 

The Politico report also stated that Castor had indeed admitted to changing plans based on how well the House Managers arguments were received.

Initially Schoen would present opening statements, the change was last minute.

An aide to former President Trump reportedly stated, “This is about lowering the temperature from the Democrats’ emotionally charged opening argument before dropping the hammer on the unconstitutional nature of this impeachment witch hunt.”

RELATED: Trump ‘Not Happy’ With His Legal Team’s First Appearance In Impeachment Trial

The post Report: Trump’s Own Impeachment Lawyer Called Him A ‘Fu**ing Crook’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trump ‘Not Happy’ With His Legal Team’s First Appearance In Impeachment Trial

Posted on by John Hanson

According to a number of reports on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was very displeased with his legal team’s performance on the first day of his Senate impeachment trial.

Many members of Congress and pundits also criticized the Trump defense team’s showing, and particularly that of Bruce Castor.

Castor had once briefly served as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, and was the District Attorney for Montgomery County.

RELATED: PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor Defends Democrat Double Standard On Impeachment – ‘Wasn’t Storming Of The Capitol’ After Maxine Waters’ Speech

Source: ‘President Trump Was Not Happy’

For about 45 minutes, Castor delivered a rambling opening speech and seemed to have a difficult time making many salient points to this case.

Sources close to Trump’s defense team reportedly told both Politico and CNN that Trump was “not happy” with how he was being represented by his lawyers.

One source reportedly told Politico, “President Trump was not happy with the performance of his legal team in action.”

In the weeks leading up to the impeachment trial, Trump’s legal team had a rough few weeks. 

The former president’s previous team quit abruptly just three weeks before the trial reportedly because Trump insisted they make the argument that the election was stolen from him by the Democrats.

Dershowitz On Castor: ‘I Have No Idea What He Is Doing’

After that controversy, Castor and attorney David Schoen came in as Trump’s primary legal representatives.

The two lawyers had little more than two weeks to prepare for the trial.

Neither Schoen nor Castor have reportedly agreed to make the case that the 2020 election was stolen from their client.

Trump’s lawyer for his first impeachment trial, Alan Dershowitz, said Trump’s legal team’s performance on Tuesday was not good. 

Dershowitz said of Castor, “I have no idea what he is doing.”

Perhaps the most surprising comment from Castor, which many on the left were quick to pounce on, was his assertion that Trump lost the election fair and square – a big departure from Trump’s claim that the election was stolen: 

RELATED: Lindsey Graham Rips Impeachment – ‘We’re Doing A Lot Of Damage To The Country Because People Hate Trump’

Republican Sen. John Cornyn Was Not Impressed

“The American people are entitled to an argument,” Dershowitz told Newsmax. “But this, just, after all kinds of very strong presentations on the part of the House managers… it does not appear to me to be effective advocacy.”

Dershowitz wasn’t the only one unimpressed. One prominent member of Trump’s own party was not the least bit impressed with what he saw from Team Trump on Tuesday.

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn reportedly said, “I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was, that was not one of the finest I’ve seen.” 

Another Republican, perhaps the biggest surprise among the GOP Senators who voted that the trial for a former president was constitutional, was Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. 

Speaking of the proceedings, Cassidy said, “Trump’s team was disorganized, they did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand. And when they talked about it, they kind of glided over it, almost as if they were embarrassed of their arguments.”

“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,” he said.

The post Trump ‘Not Happy’ With His Legal Team’s First Appearance In Impeachment Trial appeared first on The Political Insider.