DonaldTrump has turned to the lawyer
who investigated Bill Clinton two decades
ago as part of a heavyweight legal
teamtodefendhimathis ownimpeachment
trial intheSenatenextweek.
The US president appointed Kenneth
Starr, the independent counselwho recommended
the impeachment of Mr
Clinton, according to a person briefed
onhis legal team.
He also appointed Robert Ray, who
succeeded Mr Starr as independent
counsel in the Clinton probe, and Alan
Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor
who successfully defended Danish
socialiteClaus vonBulowandAmerican
football star OJ Simpson in murder
trials that grippedtheUS.
MrTrump’s trial is set to begin in earnestwithopening
arguments inthe Senate
on Tuesday. Democrats have
accusedhimof abuseofpower for trying
to pressure the Ukrainian government
into announcing investigations into Joe
Biden, the favourite to land the Democratic
nomination, and a second count
ofobstructionofCongress.
Mr Trump has rejected the claims,
arguing the impeachment isa“conjob”.
Mr Starr and Mr Dershowitz, both
regulars on Fox News, are well-known
characters frompast dramas that transfixedWashington
and the nation in the
1990s.Formuchof the decade,Mr Starr
investigatedMr Clinton in a probe that
culminated in the impeachment of the
former president for lying about his
relationswithMonicaLewinsky.Hewas
acquittedbytheSenate.
Both men also represented Jeffrey
Epsteinwhen hewas prosecuted for sex
offences inFlorida inthe 2000s,helping
secure a plea deal that was denounced
by the latemoneymanager’s victims as
overlylenient.
In a statement posted on Twitter,Mr
Dershowitz, the author of The Case
Against Impeaching Trump, said he
would present oral arguments in the
Senate trial “to defend the integrity of
the Constitution and to prevent the
creation of a dangerous constitutional
precedent”.
“While Professor Dershowitz is nonpartisan
when it comes to the constitution—
he opposed the impeachment of
President Bill Clinton and voted for
Hillary Clinton—he believes the issues
at stake go to the heart of our enduring
Constitution,” the statement said.
NancyPelosi, theDemocratic speaker
of the House, this week selected seven
House Democrats as impeachment
managers to prosecute the case against
MrTrump.