Staff Reports
Renowned legal scholar Alan Dershowitz has raised concerns about the standards in the case against Donald Trump, noting that the charge of classified material doesn’t meet the same standards applied to others. As the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary for the 2024 election, there are real concerns about election interference. Dershowitz argues that going after political opponents by indicting them is reminiscent of a banana republic and denies the right to vote for or against them.
— DLW? (@Dlw20161950) August 3, 2023
Dershowitz further explained that in order to convict Trump, the government would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew he had lost the election and intended to subvert the will of the people. However, Dershowitz doubts that they can prove this. He also highlighted issues with the indictment brought by Jack Smith, including the fact that it is based on a Reconstruction era law that has never been used to prosecute someone for questioning the legitimacy of an election. Dershowitz believes this novel and untested case may collapse under its own weight.
Dershowitz also expressed concerns about the venue for the trial, arguing that it should never have been brought in the District of Columbia due to its one-sidedness and bias. He suggested that Trump’s legal team will file to recuse the judge and move the trial to a different district. Dershowitz emphasized that if the attorney general is going to indict a leading candidate running against the president, the case must be the strongest in history, and he questioned whether this case meets that standard.
In conclusion, Dershowitz believes the indictment is based on speculative evidence and does not meet the high standard required when going after a political opponent. He warns that corrupting the justice system to punish a former president and candidate could lead to tribalism, chaos, and collapse. Dershowitz also criticizes the open-ended and broad nature of the indictment, which he sees as a threat to First Amendment rights. He urges the attorney general to ensure that the case is strong before approving such an indictment.
