Trump Struggles to Find Attorneys Willing to Represent Him at Senate Impeachment Trial. Could it Be Because of His "Rocket to Mars" Defense?

Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner

Crossover Media Group

Legal, Progressive, Judicial, Politics, Political, Government, Law, News, News Commentary, Justice, Democrats, Justice Department, Liberal

4.8 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2021

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Donald Trump has struggled to find defense attorneys who are willing to represent him in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial. This is entirely unsurprising given that, 1. Trump is famous for stiffing his attorneys and 2. Trump reportedly is insisting on a defense that includes a false claim that the election was stolen from him. Although the rules and procedures at a criminal trial versus an impeachment trial bear little resemblance to one another, there is one important similarity. In both criminal and impeachment trials, attorneys can be sanctioned and/or disbarred for offering demonstrably false defenses. As a 30-year prosecutor, I often encountered defendants who tried to convince their attorneys to offer absurd or flat-out false defenses at trial. I called these the "rocket to Mars" defenses. Here's why Trump's version of the "rocket to Mars" defense is unlikely to make an appearance at his Senate impeachment trial. Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	So Donald Trump is having a hard time finding defense attorneys who are willing to represent him in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial.
0:10.0	Why? Well, because it looks like he wants to mount something that I call the
0:15.9	rocket to Mars defense. I've seen it in court before folks and the rocket to Mars defense rarely turns out well for a
0:27.1	defendant at trial. Why? Because justice matters. Hey all, Glenn Kirchner here.
0:50.0	So Donald Trump is having a really rough time finding defense attorneys who are willing to walk into the Senate impeachment trial and represent him.
1:00.0	Why? Because Donald Trump is trying to offer what I would call an unrealistic,
1:06.8	absurd, and false defense.
1:11.5	He wants attorneys who will go into court and argue that basically he's still the legitimate
1:18.7	president because the election was stolen from him, right? It was a fraudulent election. It was a
1:25.0	rigged election. This is what I call the rocket to Mars defense
1:30.0	and in my 30 years prosecuting cases, I saw every variation of the Rocket to Mars defense.
1:37.0	A defendant would want to offer some wild, absurd defense to the crimes charged against him like I have an alibi.
1:48.0	I couldn't have committed the crime because I was on a rocket to Mars. I was vacationing on the planet
1:55.7	Mars at the time, so I could not have committed the crime with which I am charged.
2:01.2	The rocket to Mars defense. That's what Donald Trump wants defense
2:06.1	attorneys to go into the Senate trial and argue. It's Donald Trump's rocket to
2:11.9	Mars defense. I'm still president because the election was stolen from me.
2:16.2	It was rigged. It was fraudulent. So here's the thing. There are lots of differences between criminal trials and Senate impeachment
2:26.4	trials. For example, criminal trials have very well established, rigid even, rules of procedure, rules of evidence, rules of protocol, Senate trials, not so much.
2:38.0	It's kind of a no holds barred political party that these senators engage in.
2:46.5	It's a purely and exclusively political proceeding.
2:52.1	So there are no rules of evidence. There are no rules of
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Crossover Media Group, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Crossover Media Group and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.