Donald Trump has announced that lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor are in charge of the legal team in his second lawsuit, with the former president preparing to make his case in a week’s time.
As Trump read for his hearing, his in-laws were seen Sunday walking around Mar-a-Lago territory.
Viktor Knauss, 78, and his wife Amaljia, 75, visited their daughter on a Florida estate.
The pair, with whom Melania is very close, had been living in Washington DC while the 50-year-old was the first woman. The couple, who became U.S. citizens in 2018, are believed to have moved to Florida as their daughter.
A glimpse of the lawlessness came as the former president announced his new team.
David Schoen, (left) based in Alabama, was preparing to represent Jeffrey Epstein when he died, Bruce Castor (right) who was a district lawyer for Montgomery County, has joined the Trump team
Donald Trump has announced that lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor are in charge of the legal team in his second trial
Melania Trump’s parents Viktor and Amaljia Knauss were at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to visit their daughter
The photograph shows the Slovenian-born pair walking around the estate grounds where their daughter now lives full time.
The Knausses became U.S. citizens in 2018 and are now believed to be living in Florida, as is their daughter and son-in-law.
Schoen, based in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices in New York and Alabama, was ready to defend Jeffrey Epstein when the treasurer in New York was found dead in his cell in August 2019, in the Schoen says it was not suicide.
Castor was a district lawyer for Montgomery County in Pennsylvania when Bill Cosby was charged with sexual assault by Andrea Constand. He refused to complain; his fan was convicted in 2018.
The former president circulated a statement through his office shouting that the lawyers of the case were highly respected.
He also said that both Schoen and Castor agree that the impeachment is ‘illegal’ – a 45 point vote Senators agree with last week.
Trump’s news came after reports that he parted ways with his top impeachment lawyers just over a week before the trial began, after the president insisted that they argue that the election was stolen from him.
Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, both South Carolina lawyers expected to be among the top lawyers of the case, are no longer with Trump’s defense team.
Josh Howard, a North Carolina lawyer who was recently added to the team, as well as Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser, two former South Carolina federal prosecutors, are also away. according to CNN.
The separation was regarded as a ‘mutual decision’ reflecting a difference of opinion on the direction of the case.
Trump had been urging lawmakers to argue that there was major election fraud, and he fell out with lawmakers who wanted to focus on the legality of convicting a president. after leaving office, according to CNN sources.
Butch Bowers (left) and Deborah Barbier (right) were expected to be among the main agents for the impeachment case
Castor, 59, is one of Pennsylvania’s most prominent lawyers.
He was a district lawyer for Montgomery County from 2000-2008, during which time he decided not to prosecute Cosby.
‘At the moment I remember thinking he may have done something inappropriate,’ he said, referring to his 2005 decision.
‘But to think that and to be able to prove it are two different things. I did not say that he did not commit the crime. ‘
Castor’s involvement in the case angered women’s rights activists when Cosby was finally brought to court by Castor’s fan Kevin Steele.
‘As I wanted to go, there was not enough evidence, and prosecutors are bound by the law,’ Castor said.
‘I mean, I’m not a fool. I recognize that if I had arrested Bill Cosby he would have been the front page news of every newspaper in the world and directed every broadcast in the world .
‘In my career, that’s something that could be valuable to me.’
In 2005 Castor refused to charge Bill Cosby – pictured above during his March 2018 trial
After leaving the district attorney’s office Castor returned to private work, then four years on the county commissioners’ board.
In 2014 it was reported that he was seriously considering running for governor of Pennsylvania.
In 2016 he became Attorney General, and then had a brief stint as Interim Attorney General of Pennsylvania – a position he held for several months, until September 2016.
In a statement, Castor said he saw it as a privilege to represent the 45th president. ‘
Schoen, based in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices in New York and Montgomery, Alabama, was educated in New York, Boston and Washington DC before moving south to pursue civil rights law.
It has a diverse list of users, from underground figures to Trump ally, Roger Stone.
‘I represented all sorts of famous moving figures: a Russian mafia leader in this country, an Israeli mafia and two Italian leaders, as well as one who the government claimed to be the largest mafioso in the world . ‘
He has argued throughout the country, and was famously preparing to represent Epstein when he died.
Donald and Melania Trump are pictured with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial
‘I saw him a few days ago,’ he told Fox News.
‘The reason I say I don’t believe it was suicide for my interaction with that day. The reason for asking me to come in that day and over the past few weeks was to ask me to take over his defense. ‘
Epstein faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted of sex trafficking charges and sex trafficking conspiracy.
Schoen told the Atlanta Jewish Times that he met Epstein about 11 years ago, when the treasurer sought his advice.
‘From time to time, over the years, he has asked me a question or two. Over the past year, more and more over the past six months, he turned to me for advice, ‘said Schoen, adding that Epstein wanted to be billed for that service. , but declined because, ‘I wasn’t sure where the relationship was going. ”
‘We came to an agreement during that conversation,’ Schoen said.
‘We met for five hours on 1 August. I said I would want to meet with his team first to see how they felt about that. And then let’s move on. We recorded an ongoing strategy.
He was excited and excited about going on.
‘The next day, I got a phone call from one of his solicitors saying he had met him right after I met him. How happy he is about going ahead with this. If I could get in that night and start giving orders to the team, it would be a big help. ‘
Trump’s new legal team has just weeks to prepare to counter allegations that he sparked the U.S. Capitol uprising on Jan. 6.
However, all but five Senate Republicans voted for an attempt to postpone the lawsuit before it even began, making it clear that the former president’s conviction does not appear to be the same. no matter what his defensive team.
Trump has struggled to find lawyers who are willing to defend him after becoming the first president in history to have been introduced twice.
He is expected to stand the test of the week of Feb. 8 on an allegation that he incited his supporters to the Congress storm before President Joe Biden began an attempt to halt a peaceful movement of power.