On Thursday, three U.S. Senators who are serving as jurors in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump met with members of Trump’s legal team to “discuss strategy” as the Senate trial enters its fourth day, according to multiple reports.
“Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were spotted entering the meeting, which took place in a room near the Senate chamber that Trump’s team is using as a workspace.
“Cruz told reporters after the meeting that they were talking strategy for the defense’s opening arguments on Friday.”
Cruz added:
“We were discussing their legal strategy and sharing our thoughts.
“I think their job is to make clear how the house managers have not carried their burden of proof. They have not demonstrated that the president’s conduct satisfies the legal standard of high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The Texas Republican also defended the controversial move on Twitter:
CNN is no longer a news organization. They’re Dem propagandists.
Facts they are ignoring:
(1) senators are NOT jurors, as Dem Sen. Harkin clarified: https://t.co/s9o2gcZwHo
(2) Schumer repeatedly confers w/ House managers, as always & fully appropriate. https://t.co/XgSxPtpoQJ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 12, 2021
David Schoen, who serves as one of Trump’s impeachment attorneys, also tried to downplay the fact that he had been meeting with the three GOP senators:
“That’s the practice here with impeachment. There’s nothing about this thing that has any semblance of due process whatsoever.”
Not everyone agreed that such a meeting was as innocuous as the senators and attorneys maintained. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, remarked:
“The reason why these three Republican senators are meeting with the attorney[s] for the [former] president is because they’re worried. The House managers have put together a powerful case against this president. They have a mountain of video tape to back up what they say, countless tweets, all sorts of information that really is not in the best interest of the president, so I’d imagine they’re pretty desperate to come up with a good defense strategy.”
And Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) noted:
I’m no lawyer, but I’m fairly certain jurors aren’t supposed to strategize with defense counsel in the middle of a trial. https://t.co/5lpNrArq1B
— Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) February 11, 2021
Clearly, the fix is in, and Republicans are scrambling to make sure Trump isn’t found guilty, even though the facts suggest he most certainly is.
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