Trump impeachment lawyer previews defense, will argue trial is 'unconstitutional' and sets a 'bad precedent'

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Day 2 of Trump impeachment trial

EXCLUSIVE: Trump lawyer Bruce L. Castor Jr. previewed his defense strategy for the Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump, saying he will argue that "the entire proceeding is unconstitutional, bad public policy, and is setting a bad precedent for the nation."

Castor, in an exclusive interview with Fox News on Wednesday, outlined Trump’s legal team’s defense strategy.

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"We will argue that the entire proceeding is unconstitutional, bad public policy, and is setting a bad precedent for the nation," Castor said. "We will argue that every person in the United States is entitled to due process of law, even if it is the president of the United States. And the president of the United States during the House impeachment was afforded no due process of law."

"Due process requires an investigation—there was none—and we will point that out," Castor said. "Can you imagine if the police were allowed to arrest somebody because we think he did it and then do their investigation? Of course not."

He added: "But the House wants to create a separate class of persons to whom the Bill of Rights apply—there’s everybody, and then there’s Donald Trump."

Castor also said the team plans to discuss the First Amendment and said the defense "will be spending a great deal of time on what it is that the president said and the context in which he said it."

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Before a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, then-President Trump held a rally, telling supporters that he would "never concede," and repeated unsubstantiated claims that the election was "stolen" from him and that he won in a "landslide."

During his remarks, Trump put pressure on Pence, claiming that he should decertify the results of the presidential election and send it "back to the states," and said that if he did that, Trump would be president for another four years.

Trump’s remarks came ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the presidential election.

When asked whether the defense would focus on the former president’s tweets or posts to Facebook, which social media companies deemed in violation of their policies, and permanently suspended him due to the risk of continued violence, Castor said their argument "includes everything that I think is important in order to show context."

Trump had his social media accounts suspended after posting a video during the riot, which led to multiple deaths. Trump told supporters to "go home," but maintained that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from him.

Trump later tweeted: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & peace." 

In this image from video, Bruce Castor, an attorney for former President Donald Trump speaks during the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)

Meanwhile, Castor also told Fox News that Trump’s defense will point to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ calls for unity.

"I’m going to finish the argument with the calls for unity by the newly installed president and newly installed vice president and various others who call for unity, and explain how what is happening in the Senate is the furthest thing possible from uniting the country," Castor said.

"The country is not ever going to come together until this partisan rancor is toned down about a thousand notches," he said.

"As an American, I am sad to see where the country has fallen to and the political discourse turning into really hate-filled discourse," he said. "The country was founded on robust political debate, and robust political debate means that you listen to what your opponent says and you counter, but you don’t hate him, and that’s what has happened and I am very disappointed by that."

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Castor says he does not consider the House managers "the enemy" or "opponents," but rather those who have taken an oath to do what they believe "is best for the country."

"When I look across the aisle, I was literally right next to Mr. Raskin. I don’t see him as an enemy, I don’t even see him as an opponent in the classical sense," Castor said. "I see him as an adversary who is trying to do what he thinks is best for the country, while I am trying to do what I think is best for the country and the 45th president of the United States."

Castor told Fox News that under the current political climate, he is "supposed to hate Mr. Raskin and he is supposed to hate me."

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"Well, I don’t feel that way and I have no reason to think that he feels that way either," Castor said.

"I actually believe that U.S. senators are patriots and try to do what is best for the country, regardless of partisan or political views," Castor explained. "And I really do think—I have held elected and appointed office for three decades or longer—when you put your hand on the Bible and you swear you will uphold the principles of the Constitution of the United States, or in my case, Pennsylvania’s Constitution as well, that changes a person, because such promises are made before God."

He added: "And I don’t want to be the guy standing in front of St. Peter explaining why I didn’t take that seriously, and I don’t believe a U.S. senator wants to be in that position either."

Castor said that his argument is not trying to convince one part or the other.

"I am trying to convince 100 people to be in favor of Trump’s legal position, whether they like him or not," Castor said.

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As for the abilities of the House managers in presenting and arguing their case that Trump did incite insurrection on Jan. 6, Castor said he doesn’t know them "well enough to have an opinion on whether their ability is a place where we might be able to take advantage."

"I would be astonished if the speaker of the House appointed members to the team that didn’t know what they were doing," he said. "I just think the House managers have a very difficult job because I think they don’t have a very good case."

Castor said that they "have a great deal of emotional appeal that they can bring to bare about what happened on January 6, but they don’t have sufficient legal basis to support the article of inciting insurrection."

"Their case is that what happened on Jan. 6 is so bad that it justifies the abrogation of all constitutional protections," he said. "There is no set of facts that ever justifies abrogating the freedoms granted to Americans in the United States Constitution."

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Meanwhile, Castor said that he anticipates the impeachment proceedings to wrap up at some point over the weekend, while saying, though, that he feels that the House Managers "are willing to make unpredictable strategic decisions."

As for witnesses, Castor said that he "does not see reasonable people thinking they need to hear from witnesses, when in fact, the jurors in the case are witnesses themselves."

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But if the Senate does approve witnesses, Castor said that he can "say with certainty that we will call witnesses and I will cross examine the witnesses of the House managers."

Castor, though, did not reveal who Trump’s legal team would call as witnesses should that be an option.

When asked why he chose to represent Trump in his second impeachment trial, Castor gave a brief response.

"One of my heroes in American history is another one-term president: John Adams," Castor said. "And when British soldiers fired into the crowd in Boston in 1770 and were arrested for murdering Boston colonists, they needed a lawyer to defend them. John Adams defended them."

He added: "Donald Trump needs a lawyer to defend him and I will defend him."