The development right away touched off inquiries about no matter if Castor was brought onboard exactly because of his prior job as a county commissioner in a person of the destinations in which Trump was most obsessed with baseless promises of election fraud. It also stunned a lot of insiders who noticed Castor as a average Republican who normally achieved throughout the aisle, top to speculation that he may well be repositioning himself to run for Senate or governor in 2022.
“I was stunned. Bruce has been in non-public follow,” reported Ken Lawrence, a Democratic Montgomery County commissioner. “Bruce was a regulation-and-get, middle-of-the-road conservative Republican.”
Those who know Castor said the former prosecutor may possibly have been drawn to the gig for a rationale other than curiosity in better office environment: his nicely-identified appreciate for the cameras. As an aggressive district legal professional with a huge individuality in the 2000s, he often appeared on television when pursuing superior-profile murder conditions that garnered the interest of the news media.
“Prosecutors like the limelight,” said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia-based community relations executive who has identified Castor for a long time. “My guess is he most likely misses it to a specified degree. It is an interesting obstacle. Barring anything strange going on, he must be in a position to acquire the situation.”
Castor has claimed that Trump’s camp contacted him about the job, according to a particular person who has spoken with the previous D.A. not too long ago. A Trump aide did not respond to a ask for for comment.
Trump’s marketing campaign earlier sued Montgomery County’s Board of Elections about its conclusion to depend specific mail-in ballots. The previous president homed in on the area — and the city of Philadelphia, in particular — throughout his initiatives to undermine the election results.
In a assertion, Castor claimed: “I consider it a privilege to symbolize the 45th President. The toughness of our Structure is about to be analyzed like hardly ever ahead of in our background. It is robust and resilient. A document published for the ages, and it will triumph about partisanship yet all over again, and often.”
It is unclear whether Castor will amplify Trump’s fraud accusations in the course of the Senate trial. Trump’s business reported Castor and Schoen had been “bringing countrywide profiles and considerable trial knowledge in high-profile situations to the effort and hard work.”
In Pennsylvania, Castor was very long regarded as a colorful politician who at times fought with his have bash, significantly following a fellow Republican county commissioner sidelined him to co-direct with a Democrat. When Democrat Josh Shapiro took the helm of the Board of Commissioners, Castor praised his Democratic colleagues and stated he was “extremely very pleased of them.”
Castor’s standing sank when he testified in 2016 about his 2005 conclusion to not criminally prosecute Bill Cosby, who was later on located guilty of sexual assault.
Castor’s conclusion to symbolize the former president was found in some circles as a further indicator of the Pennsylvania GOP’s go to the suitable in current a long time. After a state acknowledged for electing average Republicans these types of as Arlen Specter to the Senate and Dick Thornburgh as governor, it is now one particular whose point out celebration has tied by itself intently to Trump.
If Castor runs for the open up seat for Senate or governor future 12 months, Republican operatives reported that a starring role in Trump’s impeachment trial could assistance him win over the party’s foundation. Castor beforehand ran for attorney common and eyed a operate for governor.
“Since the The usa First motion isn’t going any place, it’s politically savvy for Bruce Castor, Jr. to stand with President Trump through this unconstitutional impeachment,” claimed Greg Manz, a former Pennsylvania Republican Bash spokesperson who labored on Trump’s marketing campaign in 2016 and 2020. “Especially if he has foreseeable future ambitions for elected office environment in Pennsylvania.”
Castor did not react to a request for remark on several concerns, which includes whether he is fascinated in larger office environment.
In Castor’s yard, elected officials on each the remaining and correct have been unsatisfied with the news that he is heading Trump’s authorized staff.
Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale, a vocal supporter of Trump, said he is “disappointed” that the former president hired Castor, whom he called “a longtime lapdog” of Shapiro, who is now Pennsylvania’s lawyer general.
“In the four a long time that Castor served on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners with Shapiro, he was nothing at all additional than a GOP rubber-stamp for the Democrat agenda,” Gale reported of Castor. “Frankly, President Trump really should depict himself or skip this kangaroo court docket impeachment hearing entirely and dare 17 hack Republican senators to convict him of these bogus charges.”
Lawrence, the Democratic county commissioner, reported: “Bruce understands how elections work at the county stage simply because we run the county. So I would hope that that would not be aspect of the defense … that somehow this was a stolen election.”