South Carolina Lawyer Butch Bowers to Be Lead Attorney in Trump’s Impeachment Trial

Outgoing President Donald Trump waves after landing at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Jan. 20, 2021. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

South Carolina-based lawyer Butch Bowers will be a lead attorney in former President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial over a charge that he incited insurrection.

“Butch is well respected by both Republicans and Democrats and will do an excellent job defending President Trump,” adviser Jason Miller said in a tweet.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Trump is still pulling together a legal team but that Bowers would act as the “anchor.”

Trump will have a good legal team, Graham told reporters in Washington, adding: “Butch Bowers I think will be sort of the anchor tenant. I’ve known Butch for a long time, solid guy. And I think, you know, over time, they'll put the team together.”

Bowers, also known as Karl Smith Bowers Jr., is a graduate of Tulane University’s law school, has his own law firm, Bowers Law Office, and is associated with the Miller Law Group.

He has represented former Republican governors in North and South Carolina and served in the U.S. Justice Department under Republican former President George W. Bush, according to his website.

In 2012, Bowers represented then-Governor Nikki Haley in an ethics hearing over allegations that she engaged in illegal lobbying while she was a state representative. Haley was cleared of wrongdoing.

In 2009, he represented then-Governor Mark Sanford in an ethics hearing over his use of a state aircraft for a secret five-day trip to Argentina to see a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. Sanford agreed to pay $74,000 to settle charges that his personal travel and campaign spending violated state ethics laws, but he continued to deny wrongdoing.

The House voted on Jan. 13 to impeach Trump for a second time during his tenure. The article accuses him of inciting insurrection; they blame him for the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

This is despite Trump urging his supporters to act “peacefully” ahead of the protests.

Following the unrest, Trump condemned the violence in a video posted by the White House’s official Twitter account, noting that those involved in the riot “will be brought to justice.”

“I want to be very clear. I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country, and no place in our movement,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has not sent the article of impeachment over to the Senate yet.

However, the House of Representatives will likely send the article to the Senate by the end of this week, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said during a virtual appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Jan. 21.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has proposed that the impeachment pre-trial begin in February.