After the first day of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, his lawyers are getting bad reviews from Republicans—and the former president himself, according to Politico. Sources say Trump, who spent the day at Mar-a-Lago watching the Senate trial, was not impressed by the dry, technical arguments made by lead attorney Bruce Castor. The sources tell Politico that Trump was frustrated by the contrast between his attorneys' performance and the effective opening arguments made by House impeachment managers, who showed a graphic video of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. GOP Sen. John Cornyn also criticized Castor, saying he's seen "a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments," and Castor’s "was not one of the finest," the Washington Post reports.
Castor, who spoke for 48 minutes, "just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument," Cornyn said, adding that second lawyer David Schoen did a better job. Sen. Ted Cruz, another Trump ally, said he didn't think the former president's lawyers did "the most effective job," while lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Rankin was "impressive," the AP reports. Sen. Bill Cassidy—one of six Republicans to vote with Democrats in favor of proceeding with the trial, and the only one to flip after the previous vote on its constitutionality—told reporters that Trump's lawyers were "disorganized" and "random," while House impeachment managers made a "compelling, cogent case." When asked about the criticism from Republicans, Castor said, "We had a good day." (More Trump impeachment stories.)
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