Trump ‘beyond angry’ with impeachment defense team’s showing: sources

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Cruz: Impeachment 'political theater' aimed at erasing Trump voters

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Former President Trump was "furious" and "beyond angry" over his defense team’s showing on Day One of his second impeachment trial despite his ultimate acquittal almost certain, two sources told Fox News late Tuesday.

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The sources, who spent time with Trump, said he was particularly incensed with the effort thus far by his attorney Bruce Castor. Trump believes Castor gave a rambling opening argument, they said. Castor’s 45-minute opening remarks were widely panned on social media after he praised the House impeachment managers for a job "well done."

"The American people just spoke and they just changed administrations," Castor said at one point. He said the public is smart enough to "pick a new administration if they don’t like the old one, and they just did."

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Castor’s comment prompted the Associated Press to run the headline, "Trump Never Conceded He Lost, But His Impeachment Lawyer did."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, was impressive and is "a serious lawyer." He said Trump's team did not have the most "effective" performance.

Trump watched the proceedings from his quarters in Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla. The AP, citing an unnamed source, said Trump was impressed with the opening video presentation from Democrats. Trump’s team did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News. 

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Castor defended his performance in an interview after learning that Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., moved to side with Democrats, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

"You put 100 people in the same room, you’re going to get 100 different opinions. We only lost one…so I believe we had a good day," he said. Castor clarified that his "well done" statement was not an acknowledgment that the Democrat case was more effective.

Cassidy said that anyone who listened to Trump's team "saw they were unfocused, they attempted to avoid the issue. And they talked about everything but the issue at hand."

The Journal pointed out that Trump's legal team had very little time to prepare for the trial.

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The 50-50 Senate began another trial that many Republicans say will serve no purpose other than to fuel the divide the country. They say Democrats want nothing more than to score political points with the trial and get one last parting shot in against Trump.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., forced a vote a few days ago to set aside the trial as unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, drawing 44 other Republicans to his argument. Paul’s measure suggested the near impossibility of reaching a conviction in a Senate where Democrats hold 50 seats but a two-thirds vote — or 67 senators — would be needed to convict Trump. 

David Schoen, another attorney for Trump, told "Hannity" on Tuesday that he thought that the trial is a very painful process for the country to have to endure. He said that a well-edited video may have a "great entertainment value," but "that’s not going to advance any cause of good in the country."

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"It’s common sense," he said. "Nobody thinks of using the impeachment process for anything other than removing a civil official from office."

Fox News' Kristin Fisher and the Associated Press contributed to this report