ORLANDO, Fla. _ Jay Sekulow, a key member of President Donald Trump's legal team in his impeachment trial, has a colorful history in Orlando _ literally.
Sekulow, currently part of the team arguing Trump's case in the Senate chamber, was at the forefront of televangelist Pat Robertson's 1998 condemnation of the city's rainbow flags, which flew from 300 poles in recognition of gay rights.
In 250,000 letters sent out in July of that year by Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, Sekulow wrote of the flags, "What I saw in Orlando made me realize just how far our nation has fallen. ... We simply cannot stand by and watch it happen!"
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Sekulow used the incident as a prime example of why the center needed money to wage a national legal battle against gay rights groups and domestic partnerships.
The background for Sekulow's letter was Robertson's earlier comments on his "700 Club" television show, claiming that Orlando was risking "divine intervention, including natural disasters, for allowing the flags to fly during June," the Sentinel wrote.
After a national backlash, Robertson said his remarks had been taken out of context and he donated more than $100,000 for Florida wildfire relief.
But just a few month's later, Sekulow's letter resurrected the issue _ without, Sekulow claimed, consulting Robertson first.
Sekulow wrote that during a visit to Florida that June, during Pride Month, he "unexpectedly came upon an outrageous and totally unsettling cultural assault by homosexual activists. It was so disturbing (really, I felt like I had somehow been transported to a different world) that I knew that I had to take immediate action."
Sekulow said that because of the number of flags, "it was obvious that the city's governmental leadership had fully condoned their placement. The flags clearly had the city's 'seal of approval."'
Orlando officials repeatedly claimed city policy allowed any nonprofit group promoting a free event to use the light poles, as long as the group paid for the flags and for city employees to hang them.
But that June, in the middle of the Robertson flap, the city revised its policy to restrict flags flying from light posts to those promoting events hosted, sponsored or run by the city.
Sekulow insisted his condemnation wasn't against the city itself, only that the city should have passed a resolution explaining that they didn't endorse.
"I have no problem with Orlando," he said at the time. "I like Orlando. ... There is not anything here that knocks Orlando."
Since then, the city has embraced the rainbow flag. It painted the Walt Disney bandshell in Lake Eola Park in rainbow colors and the Orlando Police Department routinely participates in Pride events.
Gay marriage was made legal across the U.S. following a Supreme Court ruling in 2015.
Sekulow had another run-in with Orlando this week during the Senate trial, this time involving Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Orlando, one of the House impeachment managers.
According to The Washington Post, he angrily attacked Democratic impeachment managers for talking about "lawyer lawsuits" in prosecuting their case against Trump.
"And by the way _ lawyer lawsuits?" Sekulow began, according to the Post. "Lawyer lawsuits? We're talking about the impeachment of a president of the United States, duly elected, and the members _ the managers are complaining about lawyer lawsuits? The Constitution allows lawyer lawsuits. It's disrespecting the Constitution of the United States to even say that in this chamber _ lawyer lawsuits."
Sekulow added that it was "a dangerous moment for America when an impeachment of a president of the United States is being rushed through because of lawyer lawsuits."
But Sekulow, the Post reported, had apparently misunderstood what Demings said. In her statements at the trial, Demings referred to "FOIA lawsuits," not "lawyer lawsuits."
FOIA is an acronym for the Freedom of Information Act, as Demings herself mentioned in her speech.
