Former President Donald Trump did not find the performance of his defense team favorable on the opening day of his Senate impeachment trial, according to a source providing informal advice to the team.
The rambling opening statements of Trump lawyer Bruce Castor were openly criticized by Republicans.
Trump Impeachment Trial Update
The Senate impeachment trial's first day ended where it began: with most of the Senate Republicans opposed to the proceedings, an apparent sign that there likely would not be adequate votes in the end to convict the former president.
The Senate voted on Tuesday 56-44 to proceed with Trump's trial on the House charge that he incited the violence at the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, reported PBS.
Six Republicans joined 50 Democrats in voting in favor of the impeachment trial.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who voted in the House in favor of the impeachment of the former president, stated it is possible, but not likely, that more Senate Republicans will vote for his conviction. Kinzinger surmised there would not be enough to get to 67 votes. He also remarked if the Senate impeachment vote was held in closed doors, he believes it would pass.
According to Kinzinger, "I think over time, people are going to wake up to really how bad, at least, the tone was in the last four years, particularly January 6, and I don't think history is going to judge too kindly those that stood by and picked politics over that oath-keeping decision," reported ABC News.
The trial commenced on Tuesday with harrowing video footage of his supporters on Congress, but Republican senators made it apparent how difficult it will be to secure a conviction.
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The vote in favor of the constitutionality of the historic trial rejected a bid by the former president's attorneys to throw it out on the grounds that a former president cannot be impeached having left the office, reported NDTV.
The performance of Trump's legal team on the trial's first day has drawn sharp criticism from Republican senators and other witnesses. Many of them appeared unimpressed by the at times rambling and incomprehensible opening statements.
Two members of Trump's legal team, Bruce Castor and David Schoen, was looking on Tuesday to prompt the Senate to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds.
Trump did not attend his second impeachment trial and is prohibited from tweeting. However, his team is making sure Republicans feel his presence.
Trump's allies were actively tweeting and retweeting posts in his signature all-caps and exclamation-pointed style from multiple accounts. They defended him as Democratic House managers expounded their case on the first day.
The legal team is now working on regrouping. However, no major changes were imminent.
According to the anonymous source, Castor, a former district attorney in Montgomery County, Pa., and Schoen, an Alabama-based attorney who has earlier represented Trump's friend Roger Stone, suffered from a lack of experience in Senate trials with a short amount of time to prepare.
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