Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in the US Senate ended the same was as the first: with Senate Democrats unable to get enough votes to convict him on the charges of inciting his supporters to start a deadly riot at the US Capitol on January 6.
After the acquittal on Saturday, one of Trump’s defense attorneys appeared on Fox News for an interview that quickly went off the rails. Michael van der Veen was asked on Saturday specifically about his family’s treatment by the public for defending Trump, asking about a report that his home was graffitied. The response that he gave quickly went viral on Twitter.
Michael van der Veen’s interview on Fox News was uncomfortable pic.twitter.com/6wOAvIfpL3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 13, 2021
That’s because it took a while for him to even respond. He looked down, sheepishly searching for words to answer the question.
“My home was attacked… I’d rather not go into that,” he said. “To answer your question, my entire family, my business, my law firm are under siege right now.”
The attorney then began to claim that Democrats had no case against Trump, which is probably why few people seemed to have any sympathy for van der Veen despite claiming that he’s “under siege” because he’s representing the only president in American history to be impeached twice. And despite Trump supporters claiming victory on Saturday, it seems clear that Trump and Republicans are far from out of the woods here.
The hashtag #43Traitors trended on Twitter at times on Saturday, as people were frustrated that 43 Republican senators voted to acquit Trump. And with criminal charges potentially looming for Trump in a variety of courts as the fallout from his presidency grows, it seems Trump will need more lawyers to defend him and then appear on Fox News to talk about it later.