Trump refuses to testify in impeachment trial

The House impeachment managers issued a surprise request Thursday for Donald Trump to testify in his Senate trial next week, making a long-shot attempt to question the former president under oath about his conduct on the day of the Capitol riot, but it was quickly rejected by his lawyers.

In a letter to Trump, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the lead House impeachment prosecutor, said the former president’s response this week to the House’s charge that he incited an insurrection Jan. 6 had disputed crucial facts about his actions, and demanded further explanation.

“Two days ago, you filed an answer in which you denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment,” wrote Raskin, D-Md. “You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense.”

Read | Trump asked by Democrats to testify in impeachment trial

But Trump’s lawyers, Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen, wasted little time in swatting away the invitation. They said that Trump wanted no part of a proceeding they insisted was “unconstitutional” because he is no longer in office, and called Raskin’s request a “public relations stunt.”

“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,” they wrote in a letter to Raskin.

Schoen and another adviser to Trump, Jason Miller, later clarified that the former president did not plan to testify voluntarily before or after the trial begins. Instead, his defence team intends to argue that the case should be dismissed outright on constitutional grounds and that Trump is not guilty of the bipartisan “incitement of insurrection” charge in which the House asserts he provoked a mob with baseless voter fraud claims to attack the Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from formalizing his loss.

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The managers said their invitation for Trump to testify was prompted primarily by his lawyers’ official response to the impeachment charge, filed with the Senate on Tuesday. Trump’s team argued that the former president could not be culpable for his statements or the falsehoods he spread about election fraud because they were protected by First Amendment rights, given that he believes that he was the true winner.

Raskin did not immediately reply to Trump’s refusal to testify. He had not indicated whether he intended to subpoena testimony from Trump or any other witnesses when the trial begins.