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Rep. Waters: House Managers are Prepared, Trump Lawyers Don’t Have a Clue

January 22, 2020

Rep. Waters: House Managers are Prepared, Trump Lawyers Don't Have a Clue

WASHINGTON -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued a statement on the start of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump:

"The first days of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump made two things abundantly clear: the House impeachment managers have a strong case and are well-prepared to prosecute this guilty president, and impeached Trump's defense attorneys don't have an argument or a clue.

"When we announced our House impeachment managers, the American people saw that we had chosen a strong group of Members with a wealth of prosecutorial, law enforcement, military, and past-impeachment experience. In stark contrast, Trump assembled a pathetic band of Fox News misfits to serve as his defense team, including: the same lawyers who represented Trump's buddy and notorious pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein; corrupt former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who took a $25,000 donation from Trump's foundation while her office was simultaneously considering whether to prosecute Trump and his fake university; Kenneth Star, who was run out Baylor University for mishandling a sex abuse case; and Alan Dershowitz, a TV lawyer whose legal arguments on impeachment have been debunked by Constitutional scholars and the Wall Street Journal.

"As our House managers eloquently laid out the facts and made dynamic, multimedia presentations to the American people, Trump's lawyers placed their incompetence and lack of preparation on full display. Trump's legal team spent the entire day telling lies, regurgitating Fox News propaganda, and falsely presenting guilty Trump as a victim. Not only did they fail to use any video clips or slides that would exonerate their client, but Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, proved that he didn't even understand one of the most common public sector laws – the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – which his client has been subject to throughout his presidency.

"What's worse, while Trump's legal team flailed in the Senate, their guilty client made yet another confession to the charges against him. Hours after the first day of his trial concluded, impeached Trump confessed to obstructing Congress by concealing the documents that Congress lawfully requested, and bragged that they were still in his possession. This follows the admission of his Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Trump's own words – as written in a White House transcript – asking Ukrainian President Zelensky for ‘a favor' to investigate his 2020 opponent, which is an absolute abuse of power.

"The House managers are running circles around impeached Trump and his legal team. He doesn't have a credible defense, and he's already confessed to his crimes. If this president had good sense, he would stop wasting the American people's time and resign."

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