As he awaits his statement on the unconstitutionality of this impeachment of President Donald Trump, legal expert Alan Dershowitz hit back at attacks from "left-wing media."
"I'm being pilloried by the left-wing media," Dershowitz told Wednesday's "Newsmax Now" on Newsmax TV. "People are challenging my motives, saying I'm doing it because I'm old, because I'm has-been, or because I'm being paid a fortune. I'm not.
"Or because I'm trying to bring myself into the limelight, or because I've changed and become a conservative Republican. I've never seen so much attack on a lawyer since the days of McCarthy, when I was in college."
Dershowitz, who is a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat and a defender of civil liberties, was pointing to the red scare of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who was unfairly alleged to be a Communist in the 1950s.
"It's pretty obnoxious," Dershowitz said. "People are saying I'm not a constitutional lawyer, even though I've taught constitutional criminal procedure for 50 years in Harvard. Taught a course on impeachment; I've written 25 articles and five books on the constitution.
"People would be praising my constitutional credentials if I were coming out the way they would want me to come out, but because I'm coming out the other way, they're challenging me in every possible way. It is real McCarthyism."
Still, in the face of modern-day political persecution, Dershowitz is prepared to give his statement on behalf of Trump's legal team's opening argument at the Senate impeachment trial – as soon as Saturday.
"I've spent a lot of time with old dusty books, and I've prepared quite an original argument based on history and prior precedent on why these two articles of impeachment are unconstitutional and cannot stand as a matter of law," he told host John Bachman.
Dershowitz, as left-wing media has been praising House Democrats in the rules debate to date, has rejected their arguments as merely a presidential policy disagreement, not a constitutional one.
"We're heard a lot of misleading arguments [Wednesday], and most of the arguments we heard today are not constitutional arguments – they're just policy arguments," he said. "They're arguments that would lead you decide who to vote for president, but not who to impeach."
As for the debate over Democrats forcing the testimony of former National Security Adviser John Bolton, good luck, Dershowitz said, the odds are "slight."
"It's not his decision; it's the president's decision; he can invoke executive privilege, and if he does, the case has to go to court," Dershowitz concluded. "Congress has no authority to make the final decision as to whether executive privilege applies, and so we're talking about a trial now that's delayed perhaps months."
Even if the Supreme Court does weigh in, Bolton's testimony would not only be delayed, but it would also be limited, particularly on matters of national security, because the court would "split the baby" in its ruling.
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