Donald Trump's personal lawyer has offered up a new conspiracy theory about the Capitol riot so wild that even Steve Bannon was stunned. / Real America's Voice
Former President Donald Trump has parted ways with five impeachment lawyers little more than a week before his trial.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, both South Carolina lawyers who were expected to be among the lead attorneys for the case, are no longer with Trump's defense team.
Josh Howard, a North Carolina attorney who was recently added to the team, as well as Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, two former federal prosecutors from South Carolina, have also left, according to CNN.
Attorney Butch Bowers in 2009. Photo / AP
Legal briefs for the Senate trial are due next week, with the trial slated to commence days later, on February 9.
The parting was reportedly a "mutual decision" that reflected a difference of opinion on the direction of the case.
Trump had wanted the attorneys to argue there was mass election fraud, and fell out with the lawyers who wanted to focus on the legality of convicting a president after he's left office, according to CNN sources.
New additions to the legal team are expected to be announced in a day or two.
AP reported two people familiar with the legal team discussions insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The upheaval injects fresh uncertainty into the makeup and strategy of Trump's defence team as he prepares to face charges that he incited the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6.
However, all but five Senate Republicans this week voted in favour of an effort to dismiss the trial before it even started, making clear a conviction of the former president is unlikely regardless of his defense team.
Trump has struggled to find attorneys willing to defend him after becoming the first president in history to be impeached twice.
He is set to stand trial the week of February 8 on a charge that he incited his supporters to storm Congress before President Joe Biden's inauguration in an attempt to halt the peaceful transition of power.
After numerous attorneys who defended him previously declined to take on the case, Trump was introduced to Bowers by one of his closest allies in the Senate, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Bowers, a familiar figure in Republican legal circles, had years of experience representing elected officials and political candidates, including then-South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford against a failed impeachment effort that morphed into an ethics probe.
Bowers and Barbier did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Trump is set to stand trial on the week of February 8 on a charge that he incited the riot inside the US Capitol.
Republicans and Trump aides have made clear that they intend to make a simple argument: The trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office.
Attorney Debbie Barbier in 2016. Photo / AP
While Republicans in Washington had seemed eager to part ways with Trump after the deadly events of January 6, they have since eased off of their criticism, weary of angering the former president's loyal voter base.
