Former President Donald Trump's legal team called Democrats' impeachment trial a "public relations stunt" in a letter responding to their request for impeachment testimony on Thursday, Feb. 4.
The Blaze reported that Trump's legal team retorted the Democratic impeachment managers after formally requesting the former president to testify under oath during the Senate impeachment trial on Feb. 8 in line with the answers he sent on Feb. 2.
New York Times Correspondent Nicholas Fandos, on the other hand, tweeted Trump's legal team's actual response to the said impeachment managers, which is a letter sent by David Schoen's Office to Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin who happens to be the Lead Impeachment Manager of the trial. The letter was signed both by Schoen and Bruce Castor, Jr., who are officially standing as Trump's legal counsel for the impeachment.
"@maggieNYT got a copy of the prompt reply from Trump lawyers, who calls the invitation to testify a 'public relations stunt.' They do not explicitly say 'no' tho," Fandos said before quoting the last sentence from the letter. Fandos was speaking to New York Times Washington Correspondent Maggie Haberman.
In the letter dated Feb. 4, Trump's lawyers acknowledged receiving Raskin's letter that came earlier that day and decried its intentions to make use of the constitution as a "game" against the president.
"We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt. As you certainly know, there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding," the lawyers said sternly.
By inference, the lawyers were refer to the threat posed by Raskin in the event that Trump declines the invitation to testify, saying that "If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021".
"Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you can not prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen," Castor and Schoen continued in their letter.
Castor and Schoen ended with, "The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games."
The Blaze cited a tweet from The Daily Beast Senior Political Reporter Asawin Suebsaeng that backed up the former president's lawyers' letter to Raskin against the latter's request from the President to testify in the trial next week.
"Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller goes a step more definitive, telling @thedailybeast earlier this hour: 'The president will not testify in an unconstitutional proceeding'," Suebsaeng announced on Friday.
Miller, who served as Trump's Transition Team Communications Director, called the impeachment trial a "ridiculous sideshow" that must be put to a stop. Miller tweeted about the impeachment as "unconstitutional" and referred to it as a "ridiculous sideshow perpetuated by the left" with link to his op-ed article in Fox News.
In his article, Miller denounced the impeachment trial as unconstitutional such that the "Senate must dismiss it." He praised Trump's legal counsel for outlining a "rock-solid defense" of the former president by asserting that he is "now a private citizen" making "impeachment proceedings" filed against him as "rendered null and void." He also took to the defense of Trump, denouncing allegations that he incited the violence that took place in the U.S. Capitol last Jan. 6.
"The current impeachment effort flies in the face of the fundamental protections for passionate political speech in America and threatens to chill the First Amendment rights of all Americans," Miller undermined, "Despite a false narrative perpetuated by Democrats and some in the media, President Trump did not encourage violence that day, in fact, he demanded that protests stay peaceful and denounced the rioters who broke into the Capitol."
The Blaze pointed out that the impeachment trial will come to no avail especially since the "Democrats would need at least 17 Republican senators to vote in support of the impeachment to convict Trump" when 45 out of the 50 Republican senators have already voted against the impeachment.
