Trump's lawyers can be sanctioned for lying at his Senate impeachment trial: former prosecutor

On CNN Monday, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig said that former President Donald Trump's legal team could face professional sanctions if they lie to the Senate during the impeachment trial.

"I wonder, if his defense does bring up his false election fraud claim on the Senate floor, can they be sanctioned the way lawyers are sanctioned, or at least opened to sanction, [for] making false claims in court?" asked anchor Jim Sciutto. "In other words, do court-like rules imply in a Senate impeachment trial?"

"Absolutely," said Honig. "Donald Trump's attorneys make this Big Lie defense, this idea that the election was stolen, at their own professional peril. Attorneys carry ethical burdens with them wherever they go, whether it's in a civil court, a civil court, or impeachment court. And while, attorneys have broad discretion and a duty, really, to represent their clients zealously, aggressively, there are lines, and one of those lines is you cannot go into a court or Congress or any official proceeding and just state a lie and put forth a lie, especially as in this case, if it's a dangerous one. They could be sanctioned by their bar committees, their reputations will suffer. So there's real consequences."

Trump reportedly lost his original legal team over challenges with forming a proper defense. He has now hired a new team, including attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor, who argue that the entire proceeding is unconstitutional.

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