Trump parts ways with top impeachment lawyer
President Donald Trump is parting ways with the lawyer who was supposed to anchor his impeachment trial -- beginning in just a little over a week, sources told ABC News.
The former president will no longer be working with South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers and his associates, including Deborah Barbier. A source close to the former president described the change as a "mutual decision" between the parties. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who urged Bowers to take the case, had told his Senate GOP colleagues Jan. 21 that Bowers would be representing Trump.
"The Democrats' efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country. In fact, 45 Senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional. We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly,” Jason Miller, a spokesperson for Trump, told ABC News Saturday.
It's not clear who will be representing Trump, with several options now off the table.
Trump's former top lawyer, Jay Sekulow, who represented him at his first impeachment trial, will not be taking part in this trial. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, also said he will not be representing the former president after appearing at the same rally that preceded the siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The Senate trial is scheduled to start on Feb. 9. Regardless of who represents Trump, not enough GOP senators have shown an inclination to convict him.
Read more about the tumult in Trump's impeachment legal team here.
-ABC News' John Santucci