Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and attorney Alan Dershowitz, could comprise his defense team if the US president actually faces an impeachment trial, CNN reported on Saturday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Dershowitz earlier told Politico it would be an "honor and privilege" to defend Trump.
On Friday, US lawmakers released articles of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of an insurrection" and "abuse of power", while others have called for invoking the 25th amendment, which is a mechanism for removing a president from office who is unable to discharge his duties.
The new articles are set to be formally introduced on Monday.
Latest draft of the articles of impeachment that will be formally introduced on Monday includes one article: “incitement of insurrection.” Reps. Cicilline, Lieu and Raskin are taking the lead pic.twitter.com/DUaVALWgzM
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 8, 2021
Trump also faced a backlash from social media giants, with Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram blocking his accounts in the wake of the January 6 Capitol Hill riots. The platforms cited Trump’s speech appealing to his supporters in which he urged his followers to "fight" to reverse the outcome of what he called a fraud-ridden vote. Later, in a video message posted on Twitter, Trump conceded the 2020 election.
It is, however, unlikely that Trump will be impeached, as only a few days remain before January 20, when Democrat Joe Biden assumes office as the 46th president. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy warned that impeaching the president with 12 days left would only divide the country.
Impeaching the President with just 12 days left will only divide our country more. I've reached out to President-elect Biden today & plan to speak to him about how we must work together to lower the temperature & unite the country to solve America’s challenges.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) January 8, 2021
My full statement pic.twitter.com/EkkmOAkb7i
The Washington Post has reported, citing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s memo sent to fellow Republicans, that the Senate, which is currently in recess, will not reconvene for substantive business until January 19, meaning that the upper chamber may start impeachment proceedings the day before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated at the earliest.
