Alan Dershowitz to Newsmax: 'No Such Thing as a False Idea or False Opinion'

Amid allegations President Joe Biden's Justice Department has spied on former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, constitutional legal expert Alan Dershowitz chimed in on Newsmax.

"I can't imagine there'd be anything in his Twitter account which isn't public, but if there is something, they should have to justify that: Government can't just go rummaging through people's First Amendment statements," Dershowitz told Wednesday's "John Bachman Now."

"But this is a First Amendment case," he continued, rejecting former Attorney General Bill Barr's claim to the contrary.

"This is a case all about what Donald Trump said, what he believed. Even the things he did, he did, according to him, because he honestly believed, and still believes, the election was stolen.

"He was wrong, in my view, but my view doesn't matter under the First Amendment."

Trump's election challenge speech, and subsequent seeking of legal remedies, is protected, according to Dershowitz.

"Under the First Amendment, there's no such thing as a false idea or a false opinion," Dershowitz told co-hosts Bianca de la Garza and John Huddy.

"The remedy for false ideas and false opinions is to respond to them and write better ideas and better opinions, not to criminalize what somebody said or did consistent with his belief that the election was stolen."

Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan cannot be trusted to give Trump his right to a fair trial, Dershowitz continued.

"I am a liberal Democrat who has voted for Democrats all my life. I do not trust her; I do not trust her to do justice," he said. "The test is not only must justice be done, must it seem to be done. I don't see it being done."

Chutkan has concerning ties to a law firm "that has had the most conflicts of interest, in my opinion, of any major firm in the United States," in addition to ties to Hunter Biden and clients and cases tied to Burisma Holdings, according to Dershowitz.

"This is exactly the wrong person to preside over this case," he warned. "This case is going to be decided largely by the judge, by what instructions the judge gives.

"So this case should be taken away from her. She should be recused and she should not be deciding issues that divide the American people. Because they're not going to trust her judgment."

The case should be moved out of Washington, D.C., to grant Trump a fair trial, Dershowitz added.

"The case should be taken out of the District of Columbia, to which is 95% anti-Trump, and put in West Virginia or Virginia or some purple area, where at least there's a shot at getting a fair trial, like there is in Florida, in the county where the trial is going to be taking place in Florida.

"But you know Manhattan and the District of Columbia, I can't imagine two districts more anti-Trump and more unfair to Trump. The American public is not going to trust them."

Even though the decision to recuse is in the hand of Chutkan, Dershowitz said keeping it under her hand will leave it open to preemptive appeal all the way up the U.S. judicial system.

"It's her decision, but it can be appealable," he said. "If she doesn't recuse herself and if there's a conviction, there could be an appeal.

"There's also some argument that can be made — of course, today, lawyers trying to make creative arguments, they get indicted," he added, noting the basis of special counsel Jack Smith's indictment listing Trump's lawyers as alleged co-conspirators, "but there's some argument that could be made that if there's a motion to recuse her and she refuses it, that is appealable or subject to a writ of mandamus right away.

"There are cases all ways on that, and so that's one other possibility that could be explored."

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