Donald Trump's lawyers presented their line of defense three days before the start of the recall trial of the President of the United States. It is the first time since the defense team was announced Friday by the White House that it presented its arguments, modeled on those put forward since September by Donald Trump and the Republicans.
In a first "response" written to the indictment drawn up by the House of Representatives with only democratic voices, the lawyers consider that it is "a dangerous attack on the right of the Americans to freely choose their president, "a source close to the defense team told reporters. "It is a cheeky and illegal attempt to reverse the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election," she added.
A “constitutionally inadmissible” procedure
The Republican billionaire is formally accused of having abused his power by demanding that Ukraine investigate his political opponent Joe Biden, well placed to confront him during the presidential election in November. According to the indictment, he put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by conditioning an invitation to the White House and crucial military aid to Kiev to the announcement of these investigations. Then, he is accused of having obstructed the investigation carried out by the Chamber by refusing any government cooperation.
"The indictment is constitutionally inadmissible" and "does not involve any crime or violation of the law," said the same source close to the president's legal team. According to another source who also presented the White House response, the indictment "violates the Constitution" because it arises from an investigation by the Democrats "which has blatantly deprived the president of his rights". This "impeachment" procedure risks "lasting damage to the institutions", she warned.
A shocking team of lawyers
In detail, these sources argued that President Trump had finally met his Ukrainian counterpart in September at the UN, and that military aid had been released, even though a whistleblower in the meantime inside the administration had sparked the case. There was therefore no give-and-take imposed on Kiev by the former New York businessman, they argued.
Pat Cipollone, a White House lawyer, will lead the defense team, the presidency announced on Friday. He will be assisted by Jay Sekulow, Donald Trump's personal lawyer. The presidential camp also announced the arrival in this team of ex-prosecutor Kenneth Starr, central actor in the Lewinsky affair and the dismissal trial of former president Bill Clinton, and the constitutionalist Alan Dershowitz, who was the one of OJ Simpson's lawyers.
At the same time, the Democrats in the House of Representatives also submitted their arguments to the Senate. The trial against Donald Trump formally opened on Thursday with the swearing in of senators who have sworn to be impartial. He will get to the heart of the matter on Tuesday, with a first confrontation of the arguments.
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