Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) discussed the Senate impeachment proceedings from the day before.
Durbin said he heard his GOP colleagues express their “disappointment” in the Trump legal team. He added they “expected a spirited defense” of Trump, “and it didn’t happen.”
“What have you heard since last night from any Republican senators? We heard directly from Senator Bill Cassidy, who changed his mind on at least the constitutionality of it. And he voted with five other Republican senators to move forward. What else have you heard from Republicans?” host John Berman asked.
“Disappointment,” Durbin replied. “They really expected a spirited defense of the president, and it didn’t happen. … I was taking notes — I have a good seat, you know — and I’m right in front there, and I wanted to take notes to follow, and I just gave up on Mr. Castor. I couldn’t understand his line of thinking. Maybe he was the good cop, and Mr. Schoen was the bad cop? That’s the best I can come up with. And I will just say that Schoen’s presentation, heavy on rhetoric and heavy on research in some respects, you just can’t stand up in front of a group like that and just read for an hour and expect to make an impact.”
Durbin then praised the House impeachment managers’ “professional” and “amazing” work on the case.
“I really believe that the House managers did a professional job. The video was just an amazing piece of work to start this. And the arguments they made were understandable. Whether you agreed with them or not, they were easy to understand,” he advised.
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent