Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick Garland had illegally appointed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-u-s-attorney-investigating-hunter-biden-granted-special-counsel-status" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Attorney David Weiss</a> to be the special counsel in Hunter Biden&#8217;s case.
Dershowitz <a href="https://dersh.substack.com/p/garland-illegally-appointed-weiss?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=373575&amp;post_id=136117301&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared an article</a> making that very point via his Substack page, citing § 600.3(c) of the Code of Federal Regulations (a section titled &#8220;Qualifications of the Special Counsel&#8221; and noting that according to the law, any special counsel was to be &#8220;selected from outside the United States government&#8221;).
&#8220;This requirement is the law &#8230; There are good reasons for this requirement,&#8221; Dershowitz wrote. &#8220;Special counsel is supposed to be independent of the current government, not an employee who serves as U.S. Attorney for Delaware and can be fired from that job by the president. He is supposed to look at the evidence through the eyes of an outsider.&#8221;
Dershowitz went on to say that while he understood Weiss had already spent a number of years investigating Hunter Biden – and that might, in some cases, be cause for an exception — the fact that Weiss had also been party to the &#8220;sweetheart deal&#8221; that a federal judge threw out at the eleventh hour made him suspect.
That deal – which would have protected Hunter Biden from future prosecution in addition to taking it relatively easy on him with regard to the charges already filed — is the reason many Republicans have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weekend-media-wrap-vol-4-what-you-missed-if-you-werent-glued-to-the-sunday-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">objected to Weiss&#8217; appointment</a>, despite calling for a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/those-are-questions-he-has-to-answer-top-gop-rep-targets-doj-special-counsel-investigating-hunter-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special prosecutor</a> in the case.
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&#8220;Obviously, there are concerns,&#8221; House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said last weekend. &#8220;I also looked at the appointment and the appointment seems more narrow than what Bill Barr had given him. … It is limited to the case that was brought before him initially, that that’s the scope, instead of all of the matters related to unpaid taxes.&#8221;
&#8220;The concern here, obviously, with Weiss being Special Counsel is that he was the one that allowed the statute limitations to expire on some very critical felony charges that could have been brought against Hunter Biden,&#8221; he added.

Senate Impeachment Trial Of President Trump Continues

Alan Dershowitz: AG Garland’s Weiss Appointment In Hunter Biden Case Is Illegal

Alan Dershowitz: AG Garland's Weiss Appointment In Hunter Biden Case Is Illegal

Alan Dershowitz

Courts

David Weiss

Hunter Biden

Mike Turner

U.S.

Special counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s January 6 case against former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> fails to pass the &#8220;banana republic test,&#8221; according to Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alan-dershowitz">Alan Dershowitz</a>.
During a discussion with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, Dershowitz argued that prosecutors will not be able to prove Trump acted with a &#8220;corrupt motive&#8221; as he allegedly sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election over claims that it was stolen.
Still, the inquiry is escalating as Trump is campaigning as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/in-first-rally-since-being-hit-with-expanded-charges-trump-calls-on-gop-challengers-to-drop-out">GOP frontrunner in the 2024 race</a> for the White House, setting up a possible general election rematch with President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>, Dershowitz noted.
&#8220;This just doesn&#8217;t satisfy the banana republic test. In banana republics, presidents prosecute their political opponents and the stronger their political opponents are in the polls, the more likely they are to be prosecuted,&#8221; Dershowitz said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Alan Dershowitz tells <a href="https://twitter.com/glennbeck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@glennbeck</a>: &quot;This doesn&#39;t satisfy the Banana Republic test. In Banana Republics, presidents prosecute their political opponents and the stronger their political opponents are in the polls, the more likely they are to be prosecuted.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/uTUnom7MPG">pic.twitter.com/uTUnom7MPG</a>
&mdash; TheBlaze (@theblaze) <a href="https://twitter.com/theblaze/status/1686808031831408679?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Dershowitz pointed to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/latest-presidential-polls-trump-desantis-in-dead-heat-with-biden">polling showing</a> Trump and Biden virtually tied in a head-to-head matchup. He said any indictment against the former president &#8220;better be the strongest indictment in American history&#8221; with &#8220;smoking gun&#8221; evidence.
The four-count indictment <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-responds-to-latest-criminal-indictment-reminiscent-of-nazi-germany">brought on Tuesday</a> is &#8220;flawed&#8221; and &#8220;filled with speculation,&#8221; Dershowitz said, adding that it does not meet the &#8220;Nixon standard&#8221; established when former President Richard Nixon&#8217;s Republican allies turned against him during the Watergate scandal.
Trump has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. He is expected to be arraigned in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Among Smith&#8217;s defenders is former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who <a href="https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1686503121470500864">told MSNBC</a> that the special counsel was &#8220;picked as an independent, career prosecutor.&#8221; He said attacks on &#8220;the Biden Justice Department&#8221; for &#8220;going after&#8221; Trump are &#8220;poppycock.&#8221;
On the other side of the argument is George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who wrote an <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2023/08/02/trump-indictment-2020-election-jan-6-not-legally-sound/70509753007/">op-ed published by USA Today</a> saying Smith aims to &#8220;criminalize false political claims&#8221; in a way that will &#8220;bulldoze through the First Amendment and a line of Supreme Court cases.&#8221;
Trump faces two other indictments in a documents-related case brought by Smith and a hush-money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He may also be charged in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/georgia-prosecutor-ready-to-go-with-trump-case">2020 election inquiry in Georgia</a>. Trump has broadly denied any wrongdoing and claims he is the target of a political &#8220;witch hunt.&#8221;
Dershowitz, who defended Trump in his first impeachment trial, previously claimed to Fox Business that Smith&#8217;s documents-related case against the former president <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/alan-dershowitz-trump-indictment-pass-richard-nixon-test">failed to pass the Nixon test</a> and &#8220;may be the most dangerous indictment in political history.&#8221;

Dershowitz Argues Trump Case ‘Doesn’t Satisfy The Banana Republic Test’

Dershowitz Argues Trump Case 'Doesn't Satisfy The Banana Republic Test'

2020 Election

Donald Trump

Lawfare

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz warned during an interview over the weekend that the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump is &#8220;much stronger&#8221; than the indictment that he faces from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg&#8217;s office.
The remarks from Dershowitz come after he has repeatedly defended the former president, including as a member of his defense team during his first impeachment trial and as a pundit on cable news where he regularly defended the former president over a variety of issues, most notably against former special counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s Russia investigation.
Dershowitz <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/alan-dershowitz-slams-trump-indictment-shares-one-damning-piece-evidence-doj-case">told</a> Fox News on Sunday that he thinks that the indictment was an example of &#8220;targeting&#8221; the former president, but admitted that there was one &#8220;damning piece of evidence&#8221; included in the indictment that could cause serious problems for Trump.
The piece of evidence Dershowitz referred to was the following <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/5-of-the-most-shocking-allegations-and-details-in-the-federal-indictment-against-trump">allegation</a> in the indictment:
<blockquote>In July 2021, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey (“The Bedminster Club”), during an audio-recorded meeting with a writer, a publisher, and two members of his staff, none of whom possessed a security clearance, [Trump] showed and described a “plan of attack” that [Trump] said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official. [Trump] told the individuals that the plan was “highly confidential” and “secret.” [Trump] also said, “as president I could have declassified it,” and, “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”</blockquote>
&#8220;There&#8217;s one problem with that, and that is the tape recording in which Donald Trump foolishly waves a piece of paper and says, &#8216;I could have declassified this, but I didn&#8217;t. It&#8217;s secret. Here, look at it,'&#8221; Dershowitz said. &#8220;Now, maybe he didn&#8217;t actually allow the person to read it. But that tape recording, which can&#8217;t be cross-examined, you can&#8217;t say it&#8217;s a flip witness or a witness who shouldn&#8217;t have been able to testify. That&#8217;s a damning piece of evidence.&#8221;
Dershowitz added that attempts to claim that Trump had the right to have the document because the Presidential Records Act allows him to have it are a &#8220;weak defense.&#8221;
&#8220;I think this is a much stronger indictment than the Bragg indictment, but it&#8217;s the product of targeting,&#8221; he claimed.
Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr told Fox News on Sunday that if even half of the things Trump is accused of doing are true that the former president is “toast.”
“It’s a very detailed indictment and it’s very, very damning,” Barr said. “And this idea of presenting Trump as a victim here, or a victim of a witch hunt, is ridiculous. Yes, he’s been a victim in the past. Yes, his adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I’ve been at his side defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. He’s not a victim here.”
Barr said the federal indictment is very different from other cases in which the justice system was weaponized against the former president.
“There was no problem or issue underlying the Russiagate claim. It was an effort to knock him out with a false claim,” Barr said. “Here, I think the government acted responsibly. They gave him every opportunity to return those documents. They acted with restraint. They were very deferential to him. And they were very patient. They talked to him for almost a year to try to get those documents and he jerked them around. They finally went to a subpoena, and what did he do? According to the government, he lied and obstructed that subpoena. And then they did a search, and they found a lot more documents.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Brutal analysis from former Attorney General Bill Barr on the Trump classified documents indictment and on Trump&#39;s conduct. <a href="https://t.co/iQNfrkZEtM">pic.twitter.com/iQNfrkZEtM</a>
&mdash; Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1668002899958566912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Trump Defender Alan Dershowitz: Fed Indictment ‘Much Stronger’ Than Bragg Case, Tape Recording ‘Damning’

classified documents

Robert Mueller

Just before the news broke that former President Trump was indicted on federal charges, famed attorney and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial, <a href="https://www.newsmaxtv.com/Shows/John-Bachman-Now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blasted</a> the seemingly endless investigations into Trump.
Trump was indicted for allegedly violating the Espionage Act because of the way he handled classified documents. Although some of the charges are under the Espionage Act, that does not mean Trump is accused of spying.
“What I worry about is if it becomes Turkey, or it becomes Iran, or it becomes a country where a suspicion is equivalent to conviction of guilt on one side of the political spectrum, rather than the other,” Dershowitz said in an interview on Newsmax, pointing out the danger of a legal double standard. “But the key is, you have to have one system and one standard of law enforcement.”
“If there is a certain level of evidence of serious crime against anybody on either side — whether it&#8217;s the sitting president, the son of the sitting president, the former president, the same rule has to be applicable to all of them,” he continued. “The Justice Department cannot be allowed to use its enormous power of the criminal justice system to influence political elections.”
“He&#8217;s not acting like most criminal defendants,” Dershowitz said of Trump’s vehement response to rumors of his indictment. “Most of them stay quiet. And that&#8217;s why he&#8217;s gotten in trouble, but he’s exercising his constitutional rights, not only under the First Amendment, but under the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the Sixth Amendment.”
“He didn&#8217;t just simply roll over when prosecutors said, ‘We think you&#8217;re in trouble over possession of classified material.’ He fought back. And you&#8217;re allowed to do that,” Dershowitz noted, who also referenced Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg&#8217;s campaign promise to investigate Trump.
“You&#8217;re not allowed to cross lines into criminal obstruction of justice,” he explained. “But those are very hard lines to get evidence on. You have to prove corrupt motive. You have to prove that he went beyond just doing what any defendant is entitled to do, fighting back against what he believes is the government campaign to get him.”
Dershowitz noted that when former President Richard Nixon resigned, he had been urged to do so by members of his own party as well as Democrats. “It should be bipartisan when you’re going after a president, a former president, or a person running for president,” he asserted. “It should be a widespread consensus that he’s crossed the line into criminality. That consensus just isn’t there today.”

US-POLITICS-IMPEACHMENT

Famed Attorney Alan Dershowitz Blasts DOJ, Bragg Over Trump Investigations

Department of Justice

Indictment

Politics

Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented former President Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial, insisted that Trump, hit with a felony indictment on Thursday, could not get a fair trial in Manhattan and that his attorneys should move the trial to Staten Island or Upstate New York.
The indictment, filed under seal by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, was reportedly connected to so-called hush money payments to Stormy Daniels in 2016.
“Any first-year student could win this case if the name wasn’t Donald Trump and if it wasn’t in Manhattan,” Dershowitz said to Fox News host Sean Hannity of the present indictment. “This case has to get out of Manhattan. Will it get out of Manhattan? We don’t know.”
“Would you attempt to get a change of venue?” Hannity asked.
“Of course,” Dershowitz replied. “I would try to move it to Staten Island or some upstate venue. But could you imagine a judge or a juror coming home to their wife and family and friends and saying, ‘I’m the man, I’m the woman who let Donald Trump off.’ Nobody would ever speak to them again &#8230; There’s no possibility he can get a fair trial in Manhattan.”
“He could have indicted him any day over the last seven years,” Dershowitz said of Bragg. “They deliberately violated the statute of limitations because no previous prosecutor would go after him. The very fact that the indictment came down when he was out of state proves that they could have indicted him any time before the indictment came down.”
“This is a totally bizarre, convoluted theory that Alvin Bragg has simply dreamed up, taking a misdemeanor and supercharging it into a felony,” Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett added. “The law doesn’t support that.”
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Jarrett predicted Trump’s attorneys would immediately file a motion to dismiss.
“Bragg would have to prove that Trump was personally involved in falsifying records, and then he’d have to prove that Trump understood the complex campaign finance laws that nobody can comprehend and then intended to violate the those laws,” he explained. “Non-disclosure agreements in exchange for money are perfectly legal; the Federal Election Commission looked at this and they said it’s not a crime. Even if it’s not personal or a commercial reason behind it, it’s still not a campaign donation.”

Trump, Dershowitz

‘Any First-Year Student Could Win This Case’: Dershowitz Says Move Trump’s Trial To Staten Island, Upstate New York

Dershowitz: Move Trump's Trial To Staten Island Or Upstate New York

Manhattan District Attorney <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alvin-bragg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alvin Bragg</a>’s possible criminal case against former President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> may have derailed this week, according to Harvard Law professor emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alan-dershowitz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alan Dershowitz</a>.
On Monday, former federal prosecutor Robert Costello testified in front of a Manhattan grand jury over matters related to a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star in 2016. Costello <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/nyregion/costello-cohen-trump-grand-jury.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the jury that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, expected to be Bragg’s main witness in any case against Trump, “couldn&#8217;t tell the truth if you put a gun to his head.”
Dershowitz appeared on Fox News on Tuesday night and told host Sean Hannity that “Bob Costello has changed this case dramatically.”
“I think that Bragg now only has two possible results from that. Number one, he can say, ‘alright, I’m going to try to make the case without Cohen.’ He cannot use Cohen as a witness anymore. That would be unethical because of the testimony that Costello gave,” Dershowitz said. “Or he could say, ‘look, I have to drop the case.’ He may not be able to make it without Cohen. But if he can’t make it without Cohen, he can&#8217;t make it, because no ethical prosecutor is allowed to put on as a witness somebody who has told the lies and has contradicted himself so much.”
Bragg is investigating Trump over an alleged hush money payment the former president made to the porn star known as Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payment was made through Cohen, a longtime fixer for Trump, to allegedly keep Daniels from spreading claims that she had sex with Trump in July 2006 after his wife, Melania, had just given birth to their son. The former president allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment in 2017.
Cohen was later investigated by federal agents over the hush money payments. He went to Costello for legal counsel and advice, and the two men spent hours meeting and talking over the phone. In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges involving tax evasion, fraud, and campaign finance violations related to the payment to Daniels and another payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also alleged an inappropriate relationship with Trump.
Cohen has said he made the payments at Trump’s direction. Trump has denied that claim and the allegations of the two women who accused him of infidelity.
Costello told the grand jury on Monday that Cohen had said that the hush money payments were his idea, not Trump’s. Costello also lambasted prosecutors for “cherry-picking” evidence to show the grand jury that gave a false view of what actually happened. “They seemed clearly one-sided and not after the truth,” Costello told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/nyregion/costello-cohen-trump-grand-jury.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> afterward.
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While it’s unclear what actual charges Bragg may pursue, the legal pathway toward getting to an indictment is complicated, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2023/03/21/unpacking-alvin-braggs-case-against-trump-00088035" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLITICO</a>. Bragg’s case likely involves testing a novel legal theory that New York law classifies falsifying business records as a felony if the records were falsified to cover up a federal crime, which in this case would be a campaign finance crime similar to what Cohen pleaded guilty to.
Dershowitz says that Costello’s testimony has, at the very least, slowed Bragg’s movement toward any potential indictment, if not halted it altogether.
“I think that Bob Costello — it&#8217;s a game changer. I think maybe that&#8217;s a reason for the delay here. I think ethical experts are now telling Bragg, ‘wait a minute, you cannot use Cohen,’” said Dershowitz. “But if you can&#8217;t make it without Cohen, you cannot bring this charge.”

Alvin Bragg

‘Game-Changer’ Costello Testimony May Have Sunk Manhattan DA’s Case Against Trump, Dershowitz Says

Crime

New York

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims has now said that she “may have made a mistake” in her accusation against lawyer Alan Dershowitz. 
Virginia Giuffre has contended since 2014 that Alan Dershowitz had sex with her when she was a minor. Giuffre also accused Epstein of abuse, which has been verified. When Giuffre accused Dershowitz, he strongly pushed back and said it hadn’t happened. The two have now come to a deal and all lawsuits involved are ended.
“I have long believed that I was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to Alan Dershowitz,” Giuffre <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/epstein-accuser-virginia-giuffre-alan-dershowitz-agree-permanently-drop-lawsuits-against-each-other" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a joint statement. “However, I was very young at the time, it was a very stressful and traumatic environment, and Mr. Dershowitz has from the beginning consistently denied these allegations. I now recognize I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz. This litigation has been very stressful and burdensome for me and my family, and we believe it is time to bring it to an end and move on with our lives.” 
In the statement, Dershowitz said, “As I have said from the beginning, I never had sex with Ms. Giuffre.”
“I have nevertheless come to believe that at the time she accused me she believed what she said. Ms. Giuffre is to be commended for her courage in now stating publicly that she may have been mistaken about me,” he added. “She has suffered much at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and I commend her work combatting the evil of sex trafficking. I also now believe that my allegations that David Boies engaged in an extortion plot and in suborning perjury were mistaken.”
On the Megyn Kelly show, Dershowitz announced the end of the lawsuits, adding that no payments have been issued.
“The matter is over,” he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7d1v81h0I4&amp;ab_channel=MegynKelly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “She has now acknowledged that she may have made a mistake in recognizing me or in identifying me, so I’m very gratified, of course.”
Dershowitz was friends with Epstein in the past and defended him after his first arrest and charge of sex trafficking. In 2008, he reportedly assisted in getting Epstein an easy plea deal. 
Giuffre has been part of several legal actions involving Jeffrey Epstein. She sued Prince Andrew and accused him of raping her when she was in her teens. In February, the lawsuit resulted in a settlement. Prince Andrew <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/08/nyregion/epstein-victim-giuffre-dershowitz.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement at the time that he “regrets his association with Epstein and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
Giuffre was also involved in legal action against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate and girlfriend, who was recently given a twenty-year prison sentence.

6CDC2F56-219F-4EC1-B088-20254B63236A_1_201_a

Dershowitz Accuser Admits She ‘May Have Made A Mistake’

Alan Dershowitz Accuser Virginia Giuffre Admits She ‘May Have Made A Mistake’ 

Jeffrey Epstein

Famed attorney <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alan-dershowitz">Alan Dershowitz</a> weighed in on the reported <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi">FBI</a> raid on former President Trump’s Florida home at Mar-A-Lago on Monday and slammed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration">Biden administration</a> for weaponizing the justice system.
“A raid is supposed to be a last resort,” Dershowitz pointed out. “But this administration has used the weaponization of the justice system against its political enemies. It’s arrested people, denied them bail, put them in handcuffs – used all kinds of techniques that are not usually applied to American citizens.”
“I suspect it has to do with some investigations leading toward Donald Trump and some of his associates,” he theorized. “Again, the law is clear: You don’t engage in a raid unless you’ve exhausted all of the other remedies, unless you believe that the person you raided will destroy the evidence. Raids are not a first recourse in America; they’re a last recourse.”
“And so the government will have to show a court eventually that they exhausted all other possibilities or they had a reasonable basis for believing that the evidence would be destroyed if it was sought in the normal legal course of events through a subpoena,” he explained. “Raids are a last resort, but today, in many instances, it’s being used as a first resort.”
Dershowitz opined that many raids conducted by current law enforcement are impelled by a desire for celebrity, as he stated, “In order to get on television, they have a lot of these raids where people are arrested, put in handcuffs, sometimes put in leg shackles, bail denied. Presumption of innocence still applies, but it’s applied only in theory, not in practice.”
Referencing the reported FBI raid at Trump’s home, he proclaimed, “Unless there is evidence that we’re not aware of, this is improper, and it is misconduct. We have to find out what the facts are. But we have to make sure the shoe fits on the other foot – that we want to make sure what’s being one here is something that Democrats would not oppose if it were being done to Democratic operatives, as well. I don’t think it passes the test.”
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In November 2019, Dershowitz was <a href="https://twitter.com/JCats2013/status/1193552789038911494">asked</a> by radio show host John Catsimatidis, “Do the Democrats today think that the American public is so stupid on some of the things they’re doing?”
Dershowitz replied, &#8220;They’re very scary. They’re very frightening to any civil libertarian. Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican; whether you come from New York or the middle of the country, you should be frightened by efforts to try to create crimes out of nothing.&#8221;

Senate Impeachment Trial Of President Trump

Dershowitz Reacts To FBI Raid At Mar-A-Lago: Biden Administration Has Weaponized Justice System

Mar-a-Lago

Oh, you haven&#8217;t heard?
Turns out a draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to Politico on Monday. In the 98-page majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito says, “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.&#8221;
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Alito writes, a move that would invalidate the landmark 1973 decision that declared abortion constitutional.
There are several theories about why the opinion was leaked. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s plainly an attempt by the Left to try and change the outcome in this case and corrupt the process, and the court must not allow that to happen,&#8221; Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/hawley-supreme-court-leak-an-attempt-by-left-to-change-decision">said</a> on Fox News.
But the big question of the day is: Who leaked the opinion?
Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz on Monday <a href="https://video.foxnews.com/v/6305539087112#sp=show-clips">proffered</a> a theory.
&#8220;I have a theory, and it&#8217;s only a theory,&#8221; Dershowitz said on Fox News. &#8220;I think this was leaked by a liberal law clerk who was trying to change the outcome of the case, either by putting pressure on some of the justices to change their mind, or by getting Congress to pack the court even before June, which is very unlikely, or to get Congress to pass a national right-to-abortion law, which would apply to all the states, and that would have to come to the Supreme Court to see whether that could be upheld under the Commerce Clause.&#8221;
&#8220;But I think this is real, and &#8230; my theory is that it was leaked by somebody who wants to change the outcome,&#8221; the attorney said. &#8220;Look, I&#8217;ve been watching Supreme Court for 55 years. And this has all the hallmarks of reality and it does not have the hallmark of a decision that&#8217;s likely to be changed. Maybe Chief Justice Roberts will go with the minority, but I think they seem to have five votes at this point to overrule Roe vs. Wade.&#8221;
Dershowitz added: &#8220;I strongly oppose overruling Roe vs. Wade after 50 years, but I think it will be overruled.&#8221;
Hawley said this has never happened before. &#8220;This is an unprecedented breach of the court&#8217;s confidentiality, and it is plainly meant to corrupt the process within a court. It’s an assault on the court,&#8221; he said.
But the original Roe v. Wade opinion leaked out in dribs and drabs. &#8220;In 1973, both Roe v. Wade&#8217;s decision and some of its deliberations were leaked to Time magazine and The Washington Post, both of which published articles before the ruling was made public,&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-original-roe-v-wade-decision-was-also-leaked-in-1973-and-angered-the-chief-justice-so-much-he-threatened-staff-with-lie-detector-tests/ar-AAWRNlW?cvid=5a0e691b567041139b0a18df3bdd519c">reported</a>.
&#8220;Then-Chief Justice Warren Burger was &#8216;livid&#8217; about the leak, and wrote to all justices demanding that the leaker be found,&#8221; the Post said. &#8220;He said that if nobody came forward he would demand lie detector tests for the court&#8217;s clerks.&#8221;
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Supreme Court Draft Ruling Rejects Abortion Rights

Liberal Clerk The Likely SCOTUS Leaker, Top Harvard Prof Says

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz  says Liberal Clerk The Likely SCOTUS Leaker of Roe v Wade decision

Abortion

Josh Hawley

Roe v. Wade's Long And Brutal Legacy

SCOTUS

A defense attorney who has represented defendants in the January 6 Capitol riot is offering her services pro bono to conservatives and has already helped clear a Virginia dad accused of slander for saying a Left-wing activist was &#8220;grooming&#8221; children.
Marina Medvin, who started RightDefense.org earlier this year with help from the nonprofit Coolidge Reagan Foundation (CRF), is offering the free services in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The project was inspired by what she said was widespread skepticism that conservatives could find lawyers they could rely on.
&#8220;As I am sure everyone noticed in the January 6 Capitol arrests, conservatives were scrambling to find lawyers they could trust to represent their interests in criminal court,&#8221; Medvin told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Our goal is to prevent this scramble in the future.&#8221;
The project is being launched as the trials of multiple January 6 defendants get underway. One defendant, Matthew Martin, was acquitted of all charges last Wednesday after a federal judge ruled that Martin plausibly believed that Capitol Police waved him into the building. That ruling sent shockwaves through the Washington legal community, as dozens more defendants accused of trespassing could likely make the same case. Alan Dershowitz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/if-thats-the-rule-we-will-win-january-6-acquittal-enormously-important-dershowitz-says">told</a> The Daily Wire that the &#8220;enormously important&#8221; decision, by U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, could set a legal precedent for a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-facing-over-20-years-for-january-6-charges-his-lawyers-say-he-just-went-to-protest">case</a> in which he is representing January 6 defendant Brady Knowlton.
RightDefense.org, which has not made its foray into January 6 cases yet, won a case last week against Virginia dad and former PTA President Harry Jackson, who faced criminal charges for accusing a Left-wing activist of &#8220;grooming,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dad-will-no-longer-face-criminal-charges-for-calling-leftist-activist-a-groomer">The Daily Wire</a> reported. All four charges were dismissed with prejudice — meaning they cannot be brought back.
&#8220;The father who was victimized by the criminalization of free speech is now free to speak his mind,&#8221; said Medvin.
Medvin said donations will help CRF&#8217;s initiative defend people like Jackson, January 6 defendants, and also fight for legal reforms.
&#8220;We can use the foundation to do more than just represent conservatives in criminal court — we can go further and advocate for changes in the law,&#8221; she said.
Dan Backer, founder and president of CRF, said the need for conservative legal representation became clear when Virginia parents and children were targeted by the legal system for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-judge-denies-governors-request-to-immediately-strike-down-mask-mandates">not wearing</a> masks after Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) removed the statewide mandate.
He said that CRF&#8217;s &#8220;mandate is to defend conservatives who are being criminally prosecuted for living and speaking their conservative values.&#8221;
The defense of Jackson and conservative families caught in the masking dispute come cheap compared to defending alleged Capitol rioters. Backer said just one such case could cost a defendant as much as $250,000.
&#8220;Financial support at that level – or anything close to it – is wildly beyond the amount CRF has raised to date,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Maybe one day we’ll have those kinds of resources, but we’re still a modest effort to do whatever we can, when we can, to offset the pain being inflicted by leftists persecution.&#8221;
January 6 defendant John Lammons, who was arrested in March and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1487231/download">charged</a> with four misdemeanors, told The Daily Wire RightDefense.org offers an alternative to beleaguered public defenders.
&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely valuable,&#8221; he said in an interview, clarifying that he has already hired legal counsel. &#8220;It&#8217;s just all in if you trust your court-appointed lawyer.&#8221;
Send story tips to Gabe Kaminsky at <a href="mailto:gekaminsky@protonmail.com">gekaminsky@protonmail.com</a>. Follow him <a href="https://twitter.com/gekaminsky">on Twitter</a>
The Daily Wire is building up its investigative reporting team to bring you the stories the legacy media refuse to cover. Support journalism that matters and join one of the fastest-growing conservative media companies in America by becoming a Daily Wire member <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">today</a>.

January 6

Attorney For Pro Bono Criminal Defense Project Eyeing January 6 Cases

Capitol Riot

Conservatives

Washington D.C.

Alan Dershowitz, who is representing a January 6 defendant facing roughly 20 years in prison, told The Daily Wire in an interview Wednesday that the acquittal of Capitol riot defendant Matthew Martin is &#8220;enormously important,&#8221; sets a legal precedent, and could swing momentum in favor of his legal team.
A federal judge <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-acquits-january-6-defendant-reasonably-believed-capitol-police-let-him-in-building">acquitted</a> Martin, a former government contractor at a nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, on all charges Wednesday. Martin argued that police let him enter the Capitol and that he was waved into the building, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/man-who-testified-at-his-capitol-riot-trial-awaits-verdict/2022/04/06/38b91c54-b5cc-11ec-8358-20aa16355fb4_story.html">reported</a>.
Brady Knowlton, who Dershowitz is representing, spent 18 minutes in the Capitol on January 6 after he and others passed several police officers walking in their opposite direction, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-facing-over-20-years-for-january-6-charges-his-lawyers-say-he-just-went-to-protest">The Daily Wire</a> reported. Knowlton told The Daily Wire that an officer said, &#8220;You can go in as long as you don&#8217;t break anything,&#8221; before watching police and protestors shaking hands.
Dershowitz said that &#8220;the subjective intent of the defendant is key,&#8221; noting that the judge took Martin&#8217;s word over that of the police and the prosecution. The courts &#8220;have to look at the state of mind of the defendant,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;If that&#8217;s the rule, we will win,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Because it&#8217;s clear Brady honestly and reasonably believed that he was not violating any rules or laws — that he was being welcomed — as long as he didn&#8217;t do any damage.&#8221;
There are now three January 6 defendants who have resolved their cases in a trial — but Martin is the first to be acquitted of all charges. The defendant was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, and demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Knowlton has been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1389206/download">charged</a> with similar misdemeanors to Martin. He faces about 20 years in prison, as the DOJ uses statute 1512 in the U.S. code to prosecute him for obstruction of a congressional &#8220;proceeding.&#8221;
Knowlton&#8217;s attorneys, who include Harvard Law School professor Ronald Sullivan, say his law degree has been withheld by The University of Denver. Around the same time, Airbnb banned him and his wife, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection removed his Global Entry access, according to emails <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-facing-over-20-years-for-january-6-charges-his-lawyers-say-he-just-went-to-protest">obtained</a> by The Daily Wire.
There was a status hearing for Knowlton&#8217;s case in March. The court ordered the prosecution and defense to submit a status report by May 20, said Sullivan.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-facing-over-20-years-for-january-6-charges-his-lawyers-say-he-just-went-to-protest">He’s Facing 20 Years For January 6 Charges. His Lawyers Say He Just Went To Protest.</a>
Send story tips to Gabe Kaminsky at <a href="mailto:gekaminsky@protonmail.com">gekaminsky@protonmail.com</a>. Follow him <a href="https://twitter.com/gekaminsky">on Twitter</a>.
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‘If That’s The Rule, We Will Win’: January 6 Acquittal ‘Enormously Important,’ Dershowitz Says

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz claimed that Kyle Rittenhouse should be acquitted in his murder trial this week, then sue media organizations for smearing him.
Dershowitz appeared on <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/dershowitz-rittenhouse-media-trial/2021/11/13/id/1044528/">Newsmax</a> on Saturday and said that Rittenhouse, who is on trial for killing two men and wounding a third during riots in Wisconsin last year, should walk free under the “reasonable doubt” standard that he acted in self-defense. The Harvard professor then added that Rittenhouse should take various media organizations to court for spreading “deliberate and willful lies” about him and his trial.
“He should be acquitted,” Dershowitz said. “If I were a juror, I would vote that there was reasonable doubt that he did act in self-defense, and then he’ll bring lawsuits and that’s the way to answer. I’ve sued CNN, the Covington people have sued CNN. You know, the idea is to make the media accountable for deliberate and willful lies, and that is consistent with the First Amendment.”
The Harvard professor and Constitutional scholar tore into the media for its coverage of the Rittenhouse trial, mentioning several outlets by name and accusing them of attempting to abuse the justice system for other reasons.
“The bigger deal is that all of us civil libertarians, all the liberals, all the ACLU-types, The New Yorker, The New York Times, they all attack the judge for simply applying the Constitution. These phony civil libertarians couldn’t care less about due process, about free speech. All they want is due process for me, but not for thee,” Dershowitz said. “They’re taking sides, They’re cheering, they’re rooting. The New Yorker, that trashy magazine, … already dubbed [Rittenhouse], without any evidence, the ‘<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/05/kyle-rittenhouse-american-vigilante">American Vigilante</a>.’”
“People are picking sides, and they are picking on the judge because the judge has made some fair rulings under the Constitution. If the judge had made, with the same attitude, rulings in favor of the prosecution, the civil libertarians, the liberals, the left, The New York Times would be praising him to the sky. It’s so biased. We don’t have justice out there. We have partisan injustice,” he said.
The jury in Rittenhouse’s trial is expected to begin deliberations after arguments are wrapped up by the prosecutions and his defense. Rittenhouse is facing six total charges: five felonies and one misdemeanor. The felony charges are intentional homicide, reckless homicide, attempted intentional homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment. The misdemeanor charge is underage possession of a deadly weapon.
The prosecution has ran afoul of the judge in the case, Bruce Schroeder, multiple times throughout the trial. On several occasions, Schroeder stopped the trial and sent the jury out of the courtroom to reprimand Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger during Rittenhouse’s testimony. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-watch-rittenhouse-judge-stops-trial-explodes-after-prosecutor-risks-grave-constitutional-violation">The Daily Wire</a> reported:
<blockquote>The judge in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse repeatedly admonished the prosecution on Wednesday – at one point yelling at the lead prosecutor – for risking a “grave constitutional violation” during cross-examination of Rittenhouse.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger ran afoul of Judge Bruce Schroeder multiple times while questioning Rittenhouse. The judge scolded, then exploded, on Binger for commenting on Rittenhouse’s pretrial silence, which risked violating the 18-year-old’s Fifth Amendment rights.
Schroeder stopped the trial and sent the jury into a nearby room minutes after Binger had begun his examination of Rittenhouse.
“The problem is this is a grave constitutional violation for you to talk about the defendant’s silence, and that is, you’re right on the borderline. And you may be over, but it better stop,” Schroeder said. “I can’t think of an initial case on it, but this is not permitted.”</blockquote>

Kyle Rittenhouse

Rittenhouse ‘Should Be Acquitted,’ Sue Media For ‘Deliberate And Willful Lies,’ Harvard Professor Says

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