House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to take satisfaction in declaring that President Trump has been "impeached forever."
But the Democratic lawmaker "doesn't understand what impeachment is," contends Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.
Dershowitz explained to Fox News host Sean Hannity that an impeachment is like a grand jury presentation.
And "just as being found innocent by a jury removes an indictment – a Senate acquittal makes an impeachment 'disappear,'" Dershowitz said.
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"What she has said is, even if the president is acquitted, the impeachment stands – no," he said. "That's like saying that, if a person is indicted and the jury acquits 12-0 in five minutes, he’s still indicted.
"No – the impeachment disappears. The impeachment is only a grand jury presentment."
Fox News reported Pelosi spoke "gleefully" about impeachment on Bill Maher's show.
Maher said, "Just for the record, being impeached is a bad thing, right?"
"And you're impeached forever," Pelosi replied with a big grin, prompting applause from the audience. "No matter what the Senate does, that can never be erased.
"If I knew that the president was listening, I would want him to know that he is impeached forever," Pelosi said, "and he is impeached forever because he used the office of president to try to influence a foreign country for his personal and political benefit and doing so, he undermined our national security, he was disloyal to his oath of office to protect the Constitution and he placed in jeopardy the integrity of our election."
With 67 votes required to convict and Republicans holding a 53-seat majority, it's widely expected that the Senate will acquit the president.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pointed out to Pelosi the fact that acquittal would mean Trump is "acquitted forever."
In a weekend interview, the senator said: "I think dismissing this case is a much less attractive option than rendering final judgment and acquitting the president. And the reason is twofold: number one, if you do a dismissal, a dismissal doesn’t reach the merits. An acquittal, a verdict of not guilty, that verdict stands for all time.
"Nancy Pelosi is going out on TV crowing that the president has been impeached forever," he said.
"Well, when we get to final judgment, the president will have been acquitted forever of these bogus impeachment charges. That’s a much better outcome for the president and for the country."