As we’re all well aware, Donald Trump had a really tough time finding someone, anyone, to represent him in his second impeachment trial after he incited a violent insurrection at our nation’s Capitol building in a pathetic attempt to stave off his big loss just a little bit longer. Either they didn’t want to be anywhere near a dumpster fire like that, or Donnie ran them off himself by trying to haggle down their prices because, evidently, even as much trouble as he’s in, he’s still cheap.
It left Trump with little to choose from in the way of legal representation for his big trial. That much was made pretty clear yesterday when one attorney proved to the public that he has no grasp of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, and another spent his time on the soapbox hinting at a second Civil War. But apparently, it actually gets even worse and more humiliating than that — for Donald, at least.
According to a new report from HuffPost, one of the lawyers that are representing Trump in his second impeachment trial actually sued him last year for his numerous claims that mail-in voting was full of fraud, despite having “no evidence” to prove such claims.
On the former president’s pretrial brief last week, the name and signatures of Michael T. van der Veen, Brian Castor Jr., and David Schoen were present. Van der Veen is a personal injury attorney based in Philadelphia. Things get interesting when the report reveals that van der Veen represented an independent candidate for a U.S. House seat representing part of Philadelphia, Melvin Johnakin, in a lawsuit surrounding the mail-in vote claims lodged against Donald Trump and U.S. postmaster general, Louis DeJoy.
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The lawsuit argued that Trump and DeJoy’s rhetoric and efforts to derail the mail-in voting system infringed upon the rights of the plaintiff as well as others to vote.
Van der Veen wrote in the complaint:
These actions follow the appointment of DeJoy, a Republican Party and Trump campaign megadonor, in May 2020 as Postmaster General and his assumption of the office on or about June 16, 2020. These actions also arise in an environment subject to repeated claims by President Donald J. Trump that voting by mail is ripe with fraud, despite having no evidence in support of these claims and lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign to stop mail-in voting in states such as Nevada and Pennsylvania.”
Johnakin was after a ruling that would require Trump and DeJoy to “take all necessary steps to ensure that absentee and other mail-in ballots are delivered to election officials in a timely manner.” The lawsuit was ultimately settled in late November and DeJoy still remains in his position as postmaster general.
Van der Veen’s hand in the previous lawsuit against the former president was first uncovered by the Washington Post. Attorneys Castor and Schoen delivered arguments during the first day of Trump’s trial yesterday, however, van der Veen did not. It is not clear whether or not he was present yesterday.
It was reported yesterday that Trump was furious with his impeachment lawyers and their presentations.
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
