The Center for Responsive Politics has issued a report that the defense team members of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial donated money to some of the senators who will ultimately decide the president’s fate. The former independent counsels Kenneth Starr and Robert Ray both made substantial campaign contributions last year to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prior to joining Trump’s team. Starr gave $2,800 to McConnell in July and Ray gave $5,600 to McConnell for a primary or general election in September, just after the start of impeachment inquiry in the U.S House of Representatives. Moreover, Starr also gave $2,700 to Senator Lindsey Graham in 2017.
Jay Sekulow (one of Trump’s personal attorneys) has made donations to Republican senators for the past decade. Those Senators are John Thune and Ted Cruz. He also gave thousands to the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney. It is noteworthy that Romney has managed to frustrate fellow Republicans in the U.S Senate by arguing that he’d like to call witnesses to testify during the impeachment trial. It is due to he has discovered some common ground with Graham. Both have expressed interest in seeing the contents of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book manuscript. The book may contain information related to the Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate.
Trump himself found fundraising to support senators who will ultimately rule on his impeachment. He established a joint fundraising committee in November to assist Senator David Perdue in his re-election campaign. Point to be noted that all Trump’s supporters aren’t Republicans. A frequent donor to Democrats, Alan Dershowitz has defended Mike Tyson and Jim Bakker and had ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Starr and Ray both investigated President Bill Clinton around the time of his impeachment trial. Both men have been outspoken critics of impeachment in the case of Trump, in spite of their role in that case.