The FBI's actions at the Florida home of former President Donald Trump mark a "sad day for the Constitution," Harvard law professor emeritus and Newsmax analyst Alan Dershowitz said Tuesday.
"There was such a simple way around this," Dershowitz said on "John Bachman Now." "They could have subpoenaed the 15 boxes and the contents of the safe, and then a judge could have gone through every document … instead, they swooped down and just seized everything, and there's no judicial intervention to see whether the seizure is proper."
This is also the "first time in American history" such a search and seizure has taken place, said Dershowitz.
"It didn't happen when my friend Sandy Berger, who was then national security adviser, and Hillary Clinton misused classified information," said Dershowitz. "Usually the result of that is an administrative fine, not a criminal proceeding, and certainly not a search."
But now, the proof is on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to justify what they did, Dershowitz said.
Meanwhile, if the raid doesn't pass the "shoe on the other foot" test now, when the search was launched against a former Republican president, the same thing will happen once Republicans regain control of Congress and the White House, "as inevitably they will," said Dershowitz.
"It will be used against Joe Biden when he's the former president, because precedents, once established, lie around like loaded guns, ready to be weaponized and used by both sides," he said.
Dershowitz added even though he's a liberal Democrat who twice voted against Trump, he's "appalled" and thinks all people, regardless of party, should be.
Dershowitz said there are three groups of people: those who are anti-Trump and want anything done to get him; the pro-Trump people who think he can do no wrong; and the "vast majority" of Americans who are centrists who "want to see the law applied fairly and equally, and we're seeing this more and more."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.