The president has a technically nonexistent yet omnipresent legal force that has been critical in stymieing Democratic efforts.
Donald Trump’s lawyers insist they don’t need to form an impeachment defense team.
Yet here’s what they have: At least 30 White House and Justice Department attorneys who have worked on related issues. Several personal lawyers for the president dealing with the subject. A lurking presence at Capitol Hill impeachment-focused hearings. Aggressive legal briefs and countersuits foiling efforts to gather fuel for potential proceedings. Near-daily media appearances discussing the topic.
This technically nonexistent yet omnipresent force has been critical in stymying Democrats’ attempts to build their case for removing Trump from office. Trump’s lawyers have helped block testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn — a key player in the most potentially damning stories from Robert Mueller’s report — fought lawmakers and prosecutors trying to see the president’s personal tax returns and protected the former special counsel’s most sensitive secrets. They’ve also advised ex-Trump staffers like Corey Lewandowski and Hope Hicks as they faced grillings from congressional Democrats.
That the president’s representatives don’t want to call their work what it is — preventing Trump’s potential impeachment — is no surprise. Any recognition that they’ve taken such an official step would be a giant red flag that they think things are more serious than they are. Still, the Trump lawyers’ combined mission effectively is to stop impeachment before it starts.
“No one is prepping for anything like that,” said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, the longest-serving member of the Trump personal legal team, when asked to describe the president’s legal strategy for impeachment. “We’ve got very capable lawyers handling the issues that are currently pending and we’ll work on those as appropriate.”
Impeachment has actually long been on the minds of the president and his lawyers.
Back in May 2018, POLITICO reported that Trump’s attorneys had calculated that Mueller would not pursue a criminal indictment against a sitting president. That freed them up to launch a public relations blitz meant to undermine the special counsel and cripple any impeachment-fueling evidence he turned up.
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Donald Trump’s lawyers insist they don’t need to form an impeachment defense team — because they plan on stopping any case before it starts https://t.co/8CZOGc2ifQ
— POLITICO (@politico) September 23, 2019
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