Dershowitz: Convicting Trump would cast doubt over 2024 election

By Bob Unruh

President Donald J. Trump addresses his remarks Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 in the East Room of the White House, in response to being acquitted of two impeachment charges. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

Longtime constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz says that if President Trump is convicted on an impeachment charge and disqualified from running for office again there would be “questions” about the legitimacy of the 2024 presidential election.

Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School and a member of Trump’s legal defense in his first impeachment trial, said in an interview Monday with Newsmax that it’s unconstitutional and destructive to the democratic process to impeach a former president.

He said the public would have problems with “a group of Democratic senators with a few Republicans” who would deny them the “right to vote for a candidate who they might want to see as president.”

The Democrats have charged Trump with incitement of insurrection, blaming him for the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. However, while Trump was speaking to supporters, rioters already were vandalizing the Capitol. And he invited his supporters to go the Capitol “peacefully” to “cheer on” Congress members who were exercising their constitutional authority to object to slates of electors.

“We’re going to see an established precedent, a bad precedent, that when presidents leave office, they can be impeached,” Dershowitz said. “Are we going to go after President Carter now? President Obama, President Clinton, President Bush? Are we going to use this impeachment to prevent future people running for office? It’s not what the framers intended.”

A vote Tuesday in the U.S. Senate indicated there is little support for convicting Trump outside of the Democratic Party. In fact, 45 senators wanted to have a discussion about whether such an impeachment trial was even allowed under the Constitution.

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

wnd-donation-graphic-2-2019

Bob Unruh

Bob Unruh joined WND in 2006 after nearly three decades with the Associated Press, as well as several Upper Midwest newspapers, where he covered everything from legislative battles and sports to tornadoes and homicidal survivalists. He is also a photographer whose scenic work has been used commercially. Read more of Bob Unruh's articles here.


Leave a Comment