GW Law professor Jonathan Turley declined a request to represent former President Donald Trump at Trump’s impeachment trial, The Washington Post reported.

Five lawyers quit Trump’s legal team this past weekend, days before his Feb. 9 trial for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, The Post reported. Trump originally wanted his team to argue that he won the November election – a claim that would require citing disproven claims of widespread election fraud, but his attorneys instead advised him to focus on arguing the unconstitutionality of impeaching a former president.

Trump’s office announced that two new lawyers are taking over his defense.

Turley told The Washington Post that Trump could harm his own case if he insists on arguing that voter fraud cost him the election.

“That claim is viewed by many senators as one of open contempt for their institution,” Turley said. “As it stands now, he would be acquitted by a fair margin. If he pursued that path, it could change the view and the votes of some senators.”

Turley has testified before Congress on Trump’s behalf before. He spoke in front of the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment trial in December 2019, saying there was no “compelling evidence” that the former president committed a crime.