Trump loses key impeachment lawyers a week before trial, sources say

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump said goodbye to his top impeachment lawyers just over a week before his trial, two people familiar with the situation said on Saturday. The change creates new uncertainty in the composition and strategy of his defense team.

Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, both South Carolina attorneys, have left the defense team in what one person described as a “mutual decision” that reflected a difference of opinion on the direction of the case.

The two people familiar with the legal team discussions insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. One said new additions to the legal team were expected to be announced in a day or two.

Bowers and Barbier did not immediately return messages asking for comment.

Trump will face trial the week of Feb. 8 on charges of causing uproar in the Capitol. Republicans and Trump aides have made it clear that they intend to make a simple argument: The process is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office.

CNN was the first to report the lawyers’ departure.