Donald Trump’s legal team rejected a request on Thursday for the ex-president to testify at his Senate impeachment trial, slamming the demand as a political “stunt” by Democrats.
David Schoen, a former Republican prosecutor in Pennsylvania who serves as Trump’s lead defense lawyer, wrote in a letter to the 10 House impeachment managers that their request for sworn testimony from the ex-president proves his claim that the trial is unconstitutional.
“We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt,” Schoen wrote. “Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: You cannot prove your allegations against the 45th president of the United States, who is now a private citizen. The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games.”
The impeachment managers, led by Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, said in their voluntary request to Trump that refusal to testify would give senators reason to draw a “strong adverse inference regarding your actions” during, before and after the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which the former president stands accused of inciting.
But Schoen argued against that characterization.
“As you certainly know, there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding,” he wrote to the managers.
In a pretrial brief earlier this week, Schoen made clear that the main thrust of Trump’s defense will be that the trial itself is unconstitutional because he argues the Constitution only allows the Senate to try current occupants of the Oval Office.
The managers had proposed that Trump testify and undergo cross-examination next week between Monday and Thursday at a place of his choosing.
They pointed out that Trump should have no legitimate excuse for refusing to testify since he has now left office.
“Presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton both provided testimony while in office — and the Supreme Court held just last year that you were not immune from legal process while serving as president — so there is no doubt that you can testify in these proceedings,” they wrote to Trump.
The Senate could vote to subpoena Trump for testimony after arguments begin at his trial on Tuesday. However, a subpoena would require at least 51 votes — and even some Democratic senators oppose the idea of giving Trump a platform.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). Asked why, Coons added, “Have you met President Trump?”
Trump, who has stayed out of the public spotlight since retreating to Florida hours before President Biden’s inauguration, toyed with the idea of testifying at his first Senate impeachment trial in 2020, but ultimately opted against it.
This time around, the stakes are arguably even higher.
Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed in the bloody attack on the Capitol that supporters of Trump launched in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.
The far-right attackers stormed the Capitol after Trump urged them at a rally outside the White House to “fight like hell” to stop the certification while regurgitating his false claims about the election having been “stolen” from him.
The House impeached Trump a week after the assault on a single count of “incitement of insurrection.”
The evenly split Senate will now decide whether to convict Trump. Even though he’s out of office, a conviction would allow the Senate to separately vote to bar him from ever holding or running for public office again.
But conviction appears unlikely, as it requires a two-thirds vote, and most Republican senators remain loyal to Trump.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she’s still hopeful that enough Republicans will change their minds.
“They haven’t heard the case,” Pelosi told reporters. “I have great confidence and we’ll see. We’ll see if it’s going to be a Senate of cowards or courage.”
