Trump may submit written letter for Senate impeachment trial

Former US President Donald Trump may submit a written letter in his defense for the Senate impeachment trial, Report informs, referring to NBC News.

He also expands his legal team less than two weeks before the proceedings are set to begin.

Trump is not planning to appear in person to defend himself against the charge that he incited the deadly riot at the US Capitol on Jan. 6.

According to two people familiar with the plans, Trump’s lead impeachment lawyer, Butch Bowers, is expected to add at least one more member to the team, possibly a constitutional expert.

With the trial set to begin the week of Feb. 8, North Carolina attorney Joshua Howard, who spent years at the Justice Department and worked on investigations into the Clinton White House, has joined Trump’s legal defense team, according to a person familiar with the decision.

The former president is ‘encouraged’ by signs at this stage that GOP senators are unlikely to convict him and that he believes the delay in the trial likely helped his standing.

All but five of the 50 Republicans in the Senate voted for a motion on Jan. 26 to dismiss the trial entirely because trying a former president is unconstitutional. That vote - which failed by a 55-45 margin – doesn’t preclude those senators from later voting to convict Trump, however. A minimum of 17 Republicans would need to join all 50 Democrats in the Senate for Trump to be convicted.