Sen. Mazie Hirono said Wednesday that defense lawyers for former President Donald Trump were “incompetent and basically pretty pathetic” in their impeachment arguments on day one of the ongoing Senate trial.
Hirono (D-Hawaii) specifically criticized former President Donald Trump’s defense team, Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen, for admitting they changed strategies because the House managers’ presentation was so strong.
“Lawyers don’t do that unless you’re fantastically talented and good lawyer, and these two were not,” she said.
Hirono said the House managers’ presentation, on the other hand, was very moving for Democratic senators to whom she spoke after the opening of the trial.
“Watching these images, I think all of us were brought to tears,” she said, highlighting the impact of Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-Md.) emotional speech about the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection. “I know I was.”
Hirono said the House managers plan to focus on Trump’s actions during their presentation on Wednesday, presenting Trump’s repeated, baseless claims of voter fraud in the aftermath of November’s election and in the runup to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.