Lawyers dump Trump ahead of impeachment trial
Two top lawyer in former president Donald Trump team have parted ways with him ahead of his impeachment trial in the Senate, US media report.
The departure of Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier was reportedly a mutual decision.
Mr. Trump’s trial for incitement to insurrection starts on 8 February.
Senators will be asked whether to convict him on a charge he incited insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January, when five people died.
Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, two former federal prosecutors from South Carolina, have also left the team. They were reportedly unwilling to defend Mr. Trump on the basis of alleged election fraud.
Josh Howard, a North Carolina Attorney who was recently added to the team, he also left.
It is now unclear who will represent Mr. Trump during the trial.
Mr. Trump is the first President in history to be impeached twice. He was impeached by the House in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine but acquitted by the Senate.
Now, he is accused of inciting a mob that stormed Congress after he repeated false claim of election fraud but it is likely he will be acquitted again.
A total of 45 out of 50 Senators voted this week to consider stopping the trial before it even started on the ground that the presidents cannot face impeachment trials once they have left office.
It would take 17 Republican Senators breaking ranks and voting alongside the 50 Democrats to convict the president, potentially leading to his prevention from running for federal office ever again.
