The U.S. Senate voted 56-44 for the trial of former President Donald Trump to be constitutional after nearly five hours of arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers. Six Republicans broke their ranks to vote with the Democrats, and by most reports, the Democratic prosecutor’s attorneys did a far better job than the President’s attorneys, David Schoen and Bruce Castor.
In fact, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the six Republican Senators who voted against Trump on Tuesday, specifically said he “voted for the side that did a good job” because Trump’s lawyers were so bad.
Wow – Republican Senator Bill Cassidy says he changed his constitutionality vote because the Trump impeachment defense was so bad: “As an impartial juror, I’ll vote for the side that did a good job.”
– Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 9, 2021
Bill Cassidy: “Anyone who listened to President Trump’s legal team saw that they were not focused and tried to avoid the problem. And they talked about everything except the problem. “
– Manu Raju (mkraju), February 9, 2021
Senator Cassidy wasn’t the only Republican disappointed with the defense.
Nancy Cordes of CBS News reports that Trump’s defense attorneys appeared to be “confusing” the senators. “They looked at each other. They whispered. It was almost like you went to a math class and got English lessons instead. “
. @nancycordes Says Trump’s impeachment attorney Bruce Castor “wasted the first hour of his defense” and “confused” Senators
“They looked at each other. They whispered. It was almost like you went to a math class and got an English lesson instead. “Pic.twitter.com/hk73b0bLqg
– CBS News (@CBSNews) February 9, 2021
CNN’s Manu Raju says there has been “a lot of criticism” from Republicans.
One of the staunchest Trump supporters in the Senate, John Cornyn, panned the defense:
Much criticism from Republicans of Trump attorney Castor. John Cornyn: And then I thought the president’s attorney was the first attorney to go on and on and not really bring up the constitutional argument. That wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen. “
– Manu Raju (mkraju), February 9, 2021
Republican John Cornyn on Trump’s legal team: “I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments, and it wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen.”
– Kyle Griffin (@ kylegriffin1) February 9, 2021
Senator Ted Cruz wasn’t impressed:
“I don’t think the lawyers did the most effective job,” Senator Ted Cruz told @karoun when asked about Trump’s lawyers. He added that Rep. Jamie Raskin was “impressive” and “a serious lawyer”.
– Manu Raju (mkraju), February 9, 2021
Lisa Murkowski neither:
Murkowski: “I was really stunned by the first lawyer who presented Trump for the former President. Couldn’t figure out where he was going, spent 45 minutes going anywhere, but I don’t think he helped us better understand where he came from in terms of constitutionality. “
– Manu Raju (mkraju), February 9, 2021
Susan Collins was “at a loss”.
Collins says she was “at a loss” from Trump attorney Bruce Castor’s presentation.
“There didn’t seem to be any argument at all, which was an unusual approach.”
She called his calls to Sasse and Toomey “inappropriate”.
– Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 9, 2021
Of course, it wasn’t just Republican senators who were dissatisfied:
Several people told me Trump was basically yelling when Castor brought up a meandering opening argument that struggled to get to the core of the defense team’s argument.
– Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021
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