The U.S. Senate voted 56-44 that the trial of former president Donald Trump is constitutional, after nearly five hours of opening arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys. Six Republicans broke ranks to vote with the Democrats, and by most accounts the Democratic attorneys for the prosecution did a far better job than the president's attorneys, David Schoen and Bruce Castor.
In fact, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of the six Republican Senators who voted against Trump on Tuesday specifically said he voted "for the side that did a good job" because the Trump attorneys were so bad.
Wow — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy says he changed his vote on constitutionality because the Trump impeachment defense was so bad: “As an impartial juror I'm going to vote for the side that did a good job."
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 9, 2021
Bill Cassidy: “Anyone who listened to President Trump's legal team saw they were unfocused, they attempted to avoid the issue. And they talked about everything but the issue at hand."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Senator Cassidy was not the only Republican disappointed with the defense.
CBS News' Nancy Cordes reports trump's defense attorneys "appeared to confuse" the Senators. "They were looking at each other. They were whispering. It was almost as if you had gone to a math class and got an English lesson instead."
.@nancycordes says Trump impeachment lawyer Bruce Castor "wasted the first hour" of his defense and "appeared to confuse" the senators
"They were looking at each other. They were whispering. It was almost as if you had gone to a math class and got an English lesson instead" pic.twitter.com/hk73b0bLqg — CBS News (@CBSNews) February 9, 2021
CNN's Manu Raju says there was "lots of criticism" from Republicans.
One of the most stalwart Trump supporters in the Senate, John Cornyn, panned the defense:
Lots of criticism from Republicans over Trump attorney Castor. John Cornyn:“And then I thought the President's lawyer the first lawyer just rambled on and on and on and didn't really address the constitutional argument. That was it was not one of the finest I've seen."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Republican John Cornyn on Trump's legal team: "I've seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was not one of the finest I've seen."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 9, 2021
Senator Ted Cruz was not impressed:
“I don't think the lawyers did the most effective job," said Sen. Ted Cruz to @karoun when asked about Trump's lawyers. He added that Rep. Jamie Raskin was "impressive" and a "serious lawyer."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Nor was Lisa Murkowski:
Murkowski: "I was really stunned at the first attorney who presented for former President Trump. I couldn't figure out where he was going, spent 45 minutes going somewhere, but I don't think he helped with us better understand where he was coming from on the constitutionality"
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 9, 2021
Susan Collins was "perplexed."
Collins says she was “perplexed" by Trump lawyer Bruce Castor's presentation.
“It did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take." She further called his call outs to Sasse and Toomey “inappropriate." — Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 9, 2021
Of course, it wasn't just Republican Senators who were displeased:
Multiple people tell me Trump was basically screaming as Castor made a meandering opening argument that struggled to get at the heart of the defense team's argument.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021
