‘Terrible’ Trump impeachment defense left Senate Republicans ‘stunned’ and ‘perplexed’

Some Senate Republicans left the first day of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial confused by the arguments from his defense team.

GOP senators said they were left “stunned” and “perplexed” as the defense “rambled on and on.”

The trial opened with debate and a vote on whether it’s constitutional to try a former president, with House impeachment managers and Trump’s lawyers each allotted two hours to present their sides of the argument.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and lead impeachment manager, opened his side’s case Tuesday with an emotional recounting and graphic footage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob in support of Trump that left five dead and numerous others injured. The video showed Trump telling his supporters to march on Capitol Hill at a rally shortly before the attack.

“If that’s not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing,” Raskin said at the conclusion of the video.

Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, another House impeachment manager, argued that trying Trump after he’s left office is constitutional and described the Jan. 6 attack as “the framer’s worst nightmare come to life.”

“Presidents can’t inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happened,” he said. “And yet that is the rule that President Trump asks you to adopt. I urge you, we urge you, to decline his request, to vindicate the Constitution, to let us try this case.”

Neguse also argued there is precedent for trying former officeholders, pointing to the impeachment of Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 after he resigned. “Belknap made the exact same argument that President Trump is making today, that you all lack jurisdiction, any power to try him because he’s a former official,” he said.

Bruce Castor, one of Trump’s lead attorneys, then took the floor and opened his side’s case with a nearly hour-long argument. During his comments, Castor lauded the impeachment managers’ presentation, saying his team changed its plans because the Democrats’ argument “was well done.”

David Schoen, another of Trump’s lead lawyers, took the floor next and further made the team’s case as senators weighed the argument that trying a former president is unconstitutional.

Schoen argued it was a “radical constitutional theory” and “affront to the Constitution” to hold an impeachment trial for a former president, while Castor said conviction is no longer required since voters removed Trump from office.

In a fact-check piece, the Associated Press reported that Schoen and Castor “stretched beyond the facts Tuesday when they argued there’s an open-and-shut case that the Constitution bars impeaching former presidents.”

But many senators, including Republicans, criticized the team’s presentation — saying Castor rambled and largely failed to make his side’s case.

Six Republicans and all Democrats eventually voted the trial is constitutional — allowing it to move forward.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who was one of six members of his party to vote with the Democrats, told reporters 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,” Cassidy said, according to The Hill. “Now, 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.”

His vote was a shift from his position in January, when he voted — along with all but five Senate Republicans — in favor of an effort led by Sen. Rand Paul to declare the trial unconstitutional.

Other GOP senators who voted in favor of moving forward with the trial expressed confusion after hearing Trump’s lawyers’ arguments.

“I was really stunned at the first attorney who presented for former President Trump. I couldn’t figure out where he was going,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said, according to The Washington Post. “I don’t think he helped with us better understanding where he was coming from on the constitutionality of this.”

“I was perplexed by the first attorney, who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take,” Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said, according to The Hill.

Some Republicans who voted against moving forward with the trial still conceded that the Trump team’s arguments weren’t strong.

“The president’s lawyer just rambled on and on,” Sen. John Cornyn, who has previously been a defender of Trump, said, according to The Guardian. “I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments, and that was not one of the finest I’ve seen.”

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said he didn’t think Trump’s team did “the most effective job,” NPR reports.

But Marco Rubio of Florida said he thinks Castor did “the best he could.”

“It’s a tough assignment,” Rubio said, according to Politico. “This is a very different kind of jury. And I don’t think he’s been on the case very long and he hasn’t had the same time to prepare.”

Trump’s office announced earlier this month that Castor and Schoen would lead his defense after Trump had struggled to find lawyers willing to represent him, the Associated Press reports.

Other attorneys also criticized the Trump team’s defense.

“This is the best he can do in terms of lawyering? These guys were terrible,” conservative attorney George Conway, a frequent critic of Trump, told CNN. “In 30 years, I practiced law for 30 years, I’ve seen good lawyering, and I’ve seen bad lawyering. I have never seen such an extreme juxtaposition of good lawyering and bad lawyering in one proceeding at one time.”

“There is no argument,” Alan Dershowitz, who was part of Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial, said during an interview with conservative news site Newsmax. “I have no idea what (Castor is) doing. I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying.”

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity — who also criticized Trump’s impeachment defense — Schoen said Castor and his law firm “seem to be very capable people.”

“So, I’m sure they will be very well prepared in the future and do a great job in the case,” Schoen said.

Trump was impeached for the second time in January by the U.S. House of Representatives on charges that he incited an insurrection, making him the first president to be impeached more than once. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority, meaning 17 Republicans would have to join all Democrats. If convicted, Trump can be barred from holding federal office in the future by a simple majority vote.