Trump team says no to former President testifying at impeachment hearing, calls it a 'public relations stunt'

Former President Donald Trump's legal defense team refused an offer from Democrat lawmakers for Trump to testify at his impeachment hearing set for the week of Feb. 8 and called the offer a "public relations stunt."

House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sent Trump a letter Thursday containing the offer to testify during the hearing.  Trump attorneys Bruce Castor and David Schoen reportedly rejecting the offer later that day, the Daily Wire reports.  

"We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt. As you certainly know, there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding," Castor and Schoen wrote.

"Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against the 45th President of the United States, who is now a private citizen," they continued in their response.

"The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games."

The letter to the Trump team was sent after both parties filed briefs and outlined the arguments they will use through the duration of the trial. Raskin reportedly told Trump that a refusal to testify would be a "strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021."

Many Republican lawmakers have expressed their opinions that the impeachment trial for a President who has already left office is unconstitutional. Forty-five Republican Senators have already voted to dismiss article of impeachment against the former President.

Democrats have pushed for the trial to be taken seriously and have argued for its legitimacy on grounds that Trump supposedly incited an insurrection on Jan. 6 at the US Capitol building when thousands of Trump supporters rioted and clashed with police.

"President Trump’s incitement of insurrection requires his conviction and disqualification from future federal officeholding," Democrats wrote in a impeachment trial brief. “This is not a case where elections alone are a sufficient safeguard against future abuse; it is the electoral process itself that President Trump attacked and that must be protected from him and anyone else who would seek to mimic his behavior," the brief added.