Donald Trump’s impeachment lawyers: Who is leading his defence team?

 Bruce Castor, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, speaks during the second impeachment trial 

Credit: AP

On the first day of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial it was his lawyers who stole the show. 

Without his Twitter account to send a barrage of commentary, Mr Trump was tucked away in his Palm Beach retreat Mar-a-lago. No erratic tweets were posted and the former-president offered no public statements. 

This could be a blessing in disguise — Mr Trump was said to be enraged over David Schoen and Bruce Castor’s performance in the Senate. 

Neither had met before, but the lawyers selected by Mr Trump after a whirlwind turnaround of his legal counsel were said to be confident, tough and media-trained criminal case experts. They had one week to hone their defense. 

"The strength of our constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history," Mr Castor said in the statement issued by Mr Trump to announce the new line-up.

On the first day of the trial the two defense lawyers were brutally thrust into the national spotlight. So far, neither has been well received by the former-president or his backers. 

Many Republicans made it clear they thought Mr Castor’s opening performance on Tuesday was the weakest. His speech confused Senators on both sides, and even praised the Democrats at the beginning. 

Mr Castor’s 48-minute “ramble” saw him suggest Mr Trump should be arrested if he had committed a crime, then went on to say repeatedly that he lost the election. 

The team was exposed: Mr Castor does not have high-level constitutional law experience, nor does his counterpart Mr Schoen.

Mr Castor, a 59-year-old former Pennsylvania district attorney, earned his law degree at Washington and Lee University. 

He spent much of his legal career as a prosecutor, rising from the county level to the top, but is best known for his decision not to prosecute entertainer Bill Cosby after a woman accused Cosby of a sexual encounter in 2004. 

After losing reelection, Mr Castor’s opponent went on to charge Cosby with aggravated indecent assault years later. 

David Schoen, attorney for former US President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial, speaks to reporters

Credit: REUTERS

Mr Castor stood by his decision to not prosecute following Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s accusations after being called as a witness for the defense. 

“Andrea Constand’s own actions during that year ruined her credibility as a viable witness,” he said. 

Cosby was convicted in 2018, while Mr Castor lost a legal case against Cosby’s victim in which he accused her of causing his political downfall. 

Mr Castor has said that he personally thought Cosby should have been arrested, but that the evidence was not strong enough to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Family connections bridged the gap between Mr Caster and the former-president: Stephen R. Castor, a House Republican staff lawyer, recommended his cousin for the position on the impeachment defense team.  

Mr Schoen too was recommended to the president. Their relationship became particularly close when Mr Schoen represented Trump political advisor Roger Stone in his appeal case, before Mr Trump pardoned Mr Stone.

The 62-year-old graduated from Boston College Law School and has a decades long and colourful career. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Mr Schoen is notorious for selecting controversial cases and clients. 

"I represented all sorts of reputed mobster figures," Mr Schoen said in an interview with the Atlanta Jewish Times last year.

In 2002 Mr Schoen represented the Ku Klux Klan pro-bono, helping them to successfully overturn a law which banned them from dressing in their hoods and marching without paying a fee. 

Then, days before disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a New York jail, Mr Schoen visited to discuss the possibility of joining his defense team.

He has since questioned the coroner’s report, which cites Esptein’s cause of death as suicide. 

“I don’t think it was a suicide,” Mr Schoen said in an interview, as he referred to Esptein’s positivity and interest in new strategies for the case. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t have a conspiracy theory.”