Lawyer for Ecuador’s Lasso calls for impeachment hearing to be struck down

The defense representing Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso has asked lawmakers to declare impeachment hearings against him inadmissible, arguing that the embezzlement of which he is accused did not take place, the president’s lawyer said on Monday.
Opposition lawmakers in Ecuador’s National Assembly have pushed for impeachment hearings since last month. The country’s top court gave the green light for hearings to proceed, which could end in Lasso being censured or dismissed.
Edgar Neira, Lasso’s lawyer, asked the Assembly Oversight Committee handling the trial to reject the charges against the president and to declare the impeachment process inadmissible.
Lasso has presented arguments that demonstrate the alleged embezzlement connected to a shipping contract for crude oil between public company Flopec and private sector business Amazonas Tanker Pool Company LLC never took place, Neira said on Twitter, accompanied by a 38-page document detailing the defense.