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Reports: Trump Hires Attorney Butch Bowers After Struggling To Form Impeachment Defense Team

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This article is more than 3 years old.
Updated Jan 21, 2021, 04:02pm EST

Topline

Former President Donald Trump has hired South Carolina-based lawyer Butch Bowers to represent him in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial, multiple news outlets reported, a decision announced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday after several of Trump’s usual attorneys opted out of representing the former president.

Key Facts

Graham, one of Trump’s closest Senate allies, announced Bowers’ hiring during a call with other Republican lawmakers, the New York Times and Punchbowl News reported.

It’s unclear whether Trump has brought any other attorneys onto his defense team.

Bowers and Graham did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.

Tangent

Bowers is a fixture in South Carolina politics, representing all of South Carolina’s three most recent governors at various points, local newspaper The State reported. He worked for current Gov. Henry McMaster and former Gov. Nikki Haley (who served as Trump’s United Nations ambassador) when they faced state ethics probes. He also represented former Gov. Mark Sanford in an ethics investigation and state impeachment battle, after Sanford was accused of misusing state funds and admitted to secretly leaving the country for an extramarital affair in Argentina.

Key Background

After the House of Representatives impeached Trump last week for allegedly inciting an insurrection, the former president has struggled to assemble a defense team for his Senate trial. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani will not participate in his legal team, he told ABC News last weekend, because he was a witness to Trump’s alleged conduct two weeks ago. Lawyers Jay Sekulow and Pat Cipollone also reportedly declined to participate despite representing Trump in his first Senate impeachment trial last year, and Alan Dershowitz isn’t representing Trump despite publicly defending him.

What To Watch For

An impeachment trial will start after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sends the article of impeachment to the Senate. It’s unclear when she plans on taking this step, but multiple news outlets report it could happen within days.

Further Reading

Trump struggles to find lawyers as impeachment trial nears (Bloomberg)

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