President Trump this week appointed eight House Republican lawmakers to his impeachment defense team ahead of the first day of the Senate trial.
Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Ratcliffe of Texas, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Debbie Lesko of Arizona, Lee Zeldin and Elise Stefanik of New York and Doug Collins of Georgia, all staunch Trump allies, will “help expeditiously end this brazen political vendetta on behalf of the American people,” a White House statement said Monday.
“Throughout this process, these Members of Congress have provided guidance to the White House team, which was prohibited from participating in the proceedings concocted by Democrats in the House of Representatives,” the White House added.
Trump “looks forward to their continued participation” as the impeachment process moves to the Senate.
Many House Republicans had been presꦚsing Trump in recent weeks to allow his most loyal defenders to argue for his acquittal on the Senate floor, a move that the commander-in-chief embraced but Senate Majority Lﷺeader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vehemently opposed, .
The paper reports that the Kentucky Republican expressed his concerns to Trump that a House-led defense team would risk of🍨fending moderate Republicans with their hardline stances and arguments.
Instead♛, those House m𒁃embers will likely serve in more ceremonial roles by privately advising the White House on defense strategy and speaking to the media.