Trump lawyer withdraws request not to have impeachment trial on Sabbath

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer David Schoen is withdrawing his request to not hold the impeachment trial on the Jewish Sabbath, according to a person familiar with trial planning, which had altered the likely schedule for the proceedings.

In a letter written to Sens. Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, Schoen wrote, “Based on adjustments that have been made on the President’s defense team, I am writing today to withdraw my request so that the proceedings can go forward as originally contemplated before I made my request. I will not participate during the Sabbath; but the role I would have played will be fully covered to the satisfaction of the defense team.”

He also wrote, “I am advised that your response to my letter was to graciously accommodate my Sabbath observance and to set a schedule for the upcoming impeachment trial that meant suspending the trial for the Jewish Sabbath. This meant causing you to lose Friday evening and all day Saturday that you previously intended to have for the trial. I very much appreciated your decision; but I remained concerned about the delay in the proceedings.”

This will likely lead to a change in the trial schedule laid out in the resolution that was slated to be passed Tuesday. Text for the resolution, which set the parameters for the trial’s length and schedule, included language to pause the trial on Friday evening and resume on Sunday afternoon.

Schumer’s office had said over the weekend the Senate would accommodate the request from Schoen.

It was unclear as of Monday evening what Schoen’s withdrawal would do to the schedule of the impeachment trial, which is slated to begin Tuesday afternoon.