Small Firm Lawyer Will Be Trump’s Impeachment Defense Counsel

For his upcoming Senate impeachment trial, Donald Trump has retained a lawyer from a small firm in Columbia, South Carolina. Though not well known nationally, Karl S. “Butch” Bowers Jr. is well regarded in the state as go-to defense counsel for matters involving election law, campaigns, and allegations of ethics violations. He successfully defended former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford when he was in danger of being impeached after his affair and surreptitious travel to Argentina became public. He was “able and professional,” Sanford tells the Washington Post. Bowers also represented then South Carolina governor Nikki Haley during an ethics investigation, getting her off with a small fine on one charge and cleared on another. A former member of the South Carolina National Guard and counsel for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, Bowers is said to answer the door himself at his office, located not far from the South Carolina statehouse.

“Unlike his client, he won’t be bombastic,” comments one attorney in the Washington Post article. “You won’t see him flapping his arms around and yelling at anybody.” Bowers was recommended to Trump by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who also told the Post that he expects Trump to bring in other lawyers, as well.