“The American people are entitled to an argument, a constitutional argument,” Dershowitz said.
By David Isaac, World Israel News
Attorney Alan Dershowitz, who defended Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial, blasted the former president’s current lawyer Bruce Castor for his opening argument in the second, which began on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
Dershowitz told Newsmax TV on Tuesday, “I’ve no idea what he’s doing,” referring to Castor, former Pennsylvania acting attorney general. “I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying.”
Dershowitz said it was a “folksy” opening. “He’s introducing himself: ‘I’m a nice guy; I like my senators; I know my senators; senators are great people.’ C’mon, the American people are entitled to an argument, a constitutional argument,” Dershowitz said.
Dershowitz’s assessment was shared by Republican politicians who criticized him for his meandering remarks, which went on for 45-minutes.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Castor “rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument.”
“I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was… not one of the finest I’ve seen,” he said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who moved to side with Democrats after Castor’s opening remarks, said “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.”
President Donald Trump is reportedly irate about the performance of his lawyers, particularly Castor. Two sources told Fox News that he was “furious” and “beyond angry.”
Castor defended himself after the criticism. He said he hadn’t intended to speak and had expected the Senate to focus on the constitutionality of trying a former president, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The House inserted a whole lot of argument on issues that did not relate to jurisdiction that I sensed in the room was very effective,” Castor said. “I wanted to pull the senators back from that.”
Dershowitz told Newsmax TV, “He is talking to 10 people, basically.”
“We know that every Democrat will vote to remove; we know that maybe as many as 7, 8 Republicans will vote to remove. You need 17, so he’s talking to 10 people – that’s his jury. I just think he has to respond, and he has to get to the constitutional issues,” he said.
Schoen, who spoke after Castor, was generally considered more effective.
The second day of the trial begins on Wednesday at noon.