Political partisans are abusing their constitutional scholarship and violating the Constitution in this impeachment "show trial" of former President Donald Trump, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV.
"Everything about this case is showmanship," Dershowitz told "Saturday Report." "The president made the right decision. You don't walk into a perjury trap when you have people you know are going to be hostile to you. The best arguments he can make, and he will make, are the constitutional ones, namely the Senate had no jurisdiction over a former president and the speech was covered by the First Amendment."
Dershowitz rejected the legal opinion of "so-called constitutional scholars" that are saying making the First Amendment argument is "frivolous."
"Lawyers, listen to me," Dershowitz told host Carl Higbie, "I'm an expert on legal ethics and I'm also an expert on the Constitution. I'm telling you: Make those arguments; don't listen to the 144 scholars; they're wrong."
The arguments "are not frivolous, they're serious arguments, they should be presented to the Senate, the Senate should hear both sides of those issues," Dershowitz continued.
"Congress has put itself above the law," he said. "They say the president is not above the law; they're right, but Congress is not above the law, and the law makes specific provisions for when a president can be impeached and you can't impeach a president in violation of the First Amendment.
"The First Amendment says Congress, Congress, shall make no law abridging the First Amendment of free speech, and an impeachment resolution is effectively a law. It is state action, and Congress is prohibited from violating the First Amendment, and I think they've played themselves above the law in this impeachment proceeding and this trial.
"And I hope cooler heads will prevail."
Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, CenturyLink 1209, Mediacom Ch. 277, Frontier 615 or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.