- A Trump impeachment defense lawyer sued Trump over his comments of mail voting fraud last year.
- Michael van der Veen serves on Trump’s defense team during his second impeachment trial this week.
- A former client of van der Veen said he came off as “anti-Trump” when he hired him two years ago.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
One of the lawyers representing former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial filed a lawsuit against the former president over his voter fraud claims, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Philadelphia lawyer Michael van der Veen sued Trump last year, saying his claims about mail-in voter fraud were made with “no evidence in support” of them, according to The Post report.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, van der Veen represented a client who filed a lawsuit against Trump ahead of the 2020 election, accusing him and his administration of suppressing mail-in voting by reorganization efforts in the US Postal Service.
His firm also sent marketing emails accusing the Pennsylvania Republicans of running a campaign to “unfairly and illegally intimidate voters,” according to The Inquirer.
“Donald Trump doesn’t want you to be able to vote,” one August 20 email from van der Veen’s firm read, which was obtained by The Inquirer. “It’s time to stand up for what’s right.”
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Justin Hiemstra, a former client of van der Veen, told The Inquirer that van der Veen once described Trump as a “f—ing crook” two years ago. The lawyer represented Hiemstra against charges that Hiemstra tried to steal Trump’s tax returns by hacking into a government database, according to The Inquirer.
“I’m not sure if [those comments] were made to make me feel more comfortable, or if they were his actual opinions,” Hiemstra told The Inquirer.
He added: “He definitely came off as fairly anti-Trump in the context that I knew him.”
Representatives from the office of van der Veen did not immediately return Business Insider’s request for comment.
This week, the Philadelphia lawyer is a part of Trump’s defense team, alongside attorneys Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen. This is Trump’s second impeachment trial after the House voted along party lines to accuse the former president of inciting the deadly insurrection on January 6.
