Trump’s impeachment attorneys adopted the Trump playbook.

The latest members of Donald J. Trump’s authorized crew took heart stage in his impeachment trial on Friday and delivered precisely what he at all times appears to need from his attorneys: not exact, discovered authorized arguments however public fight, on this case together with twisted information, rewritten historical past and assaults on opponents.

After initially stumbling in its first spherical of arguments on Tuesday, the most recent crew — both the seventh or eighth to defend Mr. Trump since he grew to become president, relying in your math — adopted the playbook Mr. Trump has lengthy needed his attorneys to stick to.

They channeled his grievances and aggressively spun, making what-about arguments that attempted to solid his personal conduct as not so dangerous compared with the opposite facet. Democrats discovered their efficiency infuriatingly deceptive, nevertheless it probably offered a overwhelming majority of Republicans within the Senate against convicting Mr. Trump with speaking factors they will use to justify their votes.

“Hypocrisy,” one in every of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, Michael T. van der Veen, stated after they performed a several-minutes-long clip of outstanding Democrats and media commentators utilizing language like “struggle” in an effort to indicate that Mr. Trump’s personal phrases earlier than the Jan. 6 riot might have had no function in inciting the violence.

“The truth is, Mr. Trump was not in any manner, form or type instructing these folks to struggle or to make use of bodily violence,” Mr. van der Veen stated. “What he was instructing them to do was to problem their opponents in main elections to push for sweeping election reforms, to carry massive tech accountable.”

By the tip of the day Friday, Mr. van der Veen, a private harm lawyer from Philadelphia, had emerged as Mr. Trump’s main defender, dealing with questions from senators, making a collection of false and outlandish claims, calling the impeachment a model of “constitutional cancel tradition” and declaring that Friday’s proceedings had been his “most depressing” expertise in Washington.

Consultant Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the lead Home impeachment supervisor, responded, “I assume we’re sorry, however man, it’s best to have been right here on Jan. 6.”