On CNN Monday, Norm Eisen, who worked on the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump for House Democrats, warned that Trump will only sabotage his own position if he tries to inject election fraud conspiracy theories into his legal defense, rather than pursuing narrow process arguments.
"Do you think the former president is trying to justify the behavior of rioters by saying their concerns over election fraud were indeed valid?" asked anchor Wolf Blitzer.
"Well, there can be no justification," said Eisen. "Even the former president eventually — and it took him awhile, that will be one of the issues in the impeachment proving his intent to incite this insurrection — even he eventually was forced to repudiate the violence. I think the underlying issue that Trump used to build up that insurrection for months, Wolf, before the election, he said if I lose, it is rigged. That is a side show. The Republican senators don't want to hear it, Democratic senators certainly don't want to hear it."
"If Trump continues his mania and his obsession and drags these lawyers who are supposed to uphold legal standards no matter what your client wants, then that will be terrible for the country, it will be bad for the trial," said Eisen. "It will be bad for Trump. That's one thing that could drive these impeachers into the Democrats' arms."
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