President Trump legal team denies Democrats’ request for him to testify

Cheryl Johnson, clerk of the House of Representatives and Timothy Blodgett, acting Sergeant at Arms of the House lead Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., lead manager, and other Democratic House impeachment managers walk through the Capitol, to deliver to the Senate the article of impeachment alleging incitement of insurrection against former President Donald Trump, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021 in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:54 AM PT – Friday, February 5, 2021

President Trump’s legal team denied Democrats’ request form him to testify at next week’s Senate impeachment trial. The decision was made after Rep. Jamie Raskin (D- Md.) issued an invitation to the President in a letter on Thursday.

Defense attorneys responded just hours later by calling the request a publicity stunt. They asserted the move confirms Democrats cannot prove allegations against the 45th president.

In his letter, Raskin cited the recent brief filed by President Trump’s attorneys in which they called the trial unconstitutional. The lawmaker said he would like to give the President a chance to explain during testimony either before or during the impeachment trial.

JUST IN: Lead Impeachment Manager @RepRaskin Statement on Former President Trump’s Refusal to Testify Under Oathhttps://t.co/1RVMxdy7W3

— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) February 5, 2021

Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) slammed the majority party while speaking to OAN on Thursday. He noted, House Democrats did a miserable job building a legal case for President Trump’s second impeachment.

“They did nothing to get evidence and the idea being that they had to get it done because Congress is almost out of session…that’s not true,” he stated. “If we can impeach somebody whose out of office, they have all the time in the world.”

Cassidy signaled he’s unsure on whether he would like to hear testimony from the President himself. However, Democrat leadership has yet to announce if witnesses will be called to the stand amid the upcoming trial.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., speaks during a confirmation hearing for Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Denis McDonough before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Washington. (Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP)

Cassidy believes the Democrat-led House failed at building a case and is scrambling to build one at the last-minute. He slammed Democrats for rushing the process while noting they had five hours from the time they initiated impeachment to the time they voted.

“We just have to emphasize, if the House is going to build a case five hours from start to finish, it’s not building a case, ” stated the Louisiana Republican. “They let us down.”

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