"They sought out the Speaker on the Floor and in her office, publicly declared their intent to harm or kill her, ransacked her office and terrorized her staff," Plaskett said, adding "and they did it because Donald Trump sent them on this mission." After Pelosi was ushered away from the House floor, "Capitol police deemed the threat so dangerous that they evacuated her entirely from the Capitol complex," Plaskett added.
Though Castor was supposed to lead the defense, as CNN reported, that's now expected to be Schoen, who has said he will not participate in the proceedings during the Sabbath. Castor also admitted on the Senate floor that he swapped speaking roles with David Schoen because Democrats presented such a strong opening argument. He has told people he wasn't planning on speaking Tuesday, which led to the muddled speech.
But Castor has remained on the team and is expected to present, at least in part, on Friday. Trump was upset as he watched multiple people, including his usual allies on Fox News, trash Castor's performance. Several of Trump's allies lobbied him to get rid of Castor that day, which Trump briefly considered, according to two people. Trump erupted Tuesday as Castor made a meandering opening argument during which he praised the prosecutors.
JAMIE RASKIN YARMULKE TRIAL
6 riot, will claim the trial is unconstitutional and stress Trump's First Amendment rights.īecause the legal team is so disorganized, Trump's allies are apprehensive about how the defense will go. Using videos of Democratic lawmakers, they plan to argue that Democrats glorified violence by recreating the Jan. Each side gets 16 hours for presentations.Īttorneys David Schoen, Bruce Castor, Michael van der Veen and William Brennan are all expected to speak during Friday's arguments, according to a person familiar with the latest plan. His lawyers will take the Senate floor on Friday after impeachment managers wrap up today, but they are not currently expected to use all of their allotted time. “Yeah, I usually try to take it off in a formal procedure, in court and in front of a jury,” he explained as he got into the elevator Thursday morning.ĬNN asked Schoen after noticing he wore his yarmulke around the Capitol on trial breaks, but didn’t see him wearing one as he sat and listened to the House managers arguments inside the chamber on Wednesday.Īs CNN previously reported, both Schumer’s office and former senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin told CNN they are not aware of any rules against wearing a yarmulke on the Senate floor.įormer President Trump's defense team expects to finish their arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial by Friday night, two sources told CNN. Schoen, an Orthodox Jew, also told CNN that he still chooses not to wear his yarmulke inside the Senate chamber. Trump’s other attorney’s Michael van der Veen and Bruce Castor declined to answer questions on whether their legal strategy has changed at all after hearing the House managers case on Wednesday. Asked if the team plans to use up their allotted 16 hours to make their argument, Trump’s lawyer David Schoen told reporters: “I don’t know – hope not.”