President Trump plans to add three seasoned lawyers to his legal defense team, people familiar with the matter said, including Kenneth Starr, the hard-charging prosecutor whose work led to the country’s last impeachment trial.
The list also includes Alan Dershowitz, the constitutional lawyer, and Robert Ray, Starr’s successor at the Office of Independent Counsel during the Clinton administration.
The three are expected to join a legal team headed by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside attorney Jay Sekulow, who are still expected to deliver statements on the President’s behalf on the Senate floor.
Starr and Ray are expected to play a constitutional and historic role during the proceedings to support Cippolone and Sekulow.
Trump has relied on Dershowitz for advice throughout the Mueller investigation and during his impeachment. The two have been in discussions about Dershowitz joining for several weeks and he is now slated to join, though it’s unclear when it will be announced.
Officials have been hesitant to speak about who they are adding to the legal team after a botched attempt to hire Trey Gowdy last fall. Gowdy became the new face of Trump’s impeachment defense team for only a matter of hours before Trump said federal lobbying rules wouldn’t allow him to begin until January. He has continued to speak to Gowdy privately about the situation.
Given what happened then, a source cautioned the situation is fluid and not final until announced.
Dershowitz declined to comment to CNN.