Harvard law professor and attorney Alan Dershowitz has responded to claims by former Attorney General Bill Barr that freedom of speech is not on trial in former President Trump’s election fraud case, calling the suggestion “completely false.”
“I love Bill Barr, he’s a good guy, but I think he’s totally wrong about that. Of course that’s a free speech issue,” Dershowitz said. In an interview with Fox Radio on Friday. “Everything involves his exercise of freedom of expression.”
He added, “Not only is his First Amendment free speech, but also his First Amendment right to petition the government for grievances to be redressed.”
Barr said Friday in an interview with CNN that arguments over free speech distract from the crux of the issue — Trump’s actions.
“He can say whatever he wants. He can even lie. He can even tell people the election was stolen, when he knew best,” Barr said.
Dershowitz, who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial in 2020, said the cases against the former president are wrong on their face, as they could affect the upcoming presidential election.
He said, “A leading candidate against a sitting president should never be tried by the attorney general of the president of the republic unless the case against him is overwhelming and uncontroversial.” “The Nixon Standard is what I call it.”
But, Dershowitz said, the cases against Trump have not met that standard, except “maybe” his second federal indictment. Claiming that he mishandled confidential documents.
Dershowitz criticized the recent indictment from Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith alleging that Trump Try to nullify the results of the 2020 election.
The indictment is based on lies. The indictment itself contains a blatant lie by Jack Smith.
He said the indictment contained “falsehoods,” alleging that Smith did not tell the full story of Trump’s comments prior to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
Dershowitz claimed in the interview that Smith himself could be charged with crimes to pursue the case against Trump, since the charges disenfranchise the former president.
Ultimately, Dershowitz claimed, the issues are about speech.
“We have two presidents in our history, of all our presidents only two, who have been described as honest. Honest Abe, Washington, and the cherry tree. Does that mean every other president has been dishonest? Maybe,” he said. “Maybe every single one of them told a lie to get elected or stay in office, and we don’t punish. We don’t criminalize political lies.”
Dershowitz, who has said he has not voted for Trump previously and will not vote in the future, has also defended President Biden from recent calls for his impeachment.
He said, “Biden may have done some wrong things, but he has not committed any crimes that require impeachment, at least not yet.”
For the latest news, weather, sports and video streaming, head to The Hill.
