Dershowitz, Starr join Trump impeachment legal team

WASHINGTON (AP):

President Donald Trump’s legal team for his upcoming Senate impeachment trial will include former Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.

The team will also include Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general and a Trump ally, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorised to speak on the record.

The lead roles for Trump’s defence will be played by White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow.

In adding Dershowitz and Starr, the president is turning to a pair of brand-name attorneys who have experience in some of the more consequential legal dramas of recent American history. The additions give the president additional experience both in constitutional law and in the politics of impeachment. Starr’s investigation into Clinton’s relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky helped set in motion Clinton’s impeachment, the last such case before Congress.

Dershowitz confirmed his role in a series of tweets on Friday, saying he would “present oral arguments at the Senate trial to address the constitutional arguments against impeachment and removal.”