House managers arguing at the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump "really blew it" Thursday, according to legal expert Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV.
"Today the Democrats really blew it. Maybe now they'll regain their strength but up to now, today was a complete waste of time," Dershowitz told co-hosts Bob Sellers and Heather Childers during the afternoon’s "American Agenda."
"They made a very effective emotional argument [Wednesday], and instead of leaving it, they went on and droned on and on and on and repeated what they said yesterday and showed the same things and made the same arguments."
House managers such as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., argued the Trump defense could not claim First Amendment protection for what the former president said during a Jan. 6 rally before rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Dershowitz strongly disagreed.
"They going to cite 144 law professors who say that to even offer the First Amendment argument is frivolous, and legally frivolous, and shouldn't even be allowed," Dershowitz said. "They're going to argue, they already have, Jamie Raskin taught Constitutional law, and he would never accept that argument on his class.
"Well, I've also taught law and constitutional law, and practiced it and litigated more First Amendment cases than anybody in that room, and let me tell you, the First Amendment argument is strong, powerful, overwhelming and correct."
Dershowitz said Democrats did not display a basic rule taught in law schools.
"The first thing you teach a good lawyer is, 'You have to know when to sit down and when to shut up.' The Democrats just didn't know when to sit down and shut up," Dershowitz said. "They would have been much better advised if they had just started today by saying, 'Let’s get to the First Amendment issue. Let's anticipate.
"I'm not sure whether they get rebuttal. If they get rebuttal then they really shouldn't even raise the First Amendment issue. They should wait until it's raised by the Trump defense and then rebut it. If they don't get rebuttal, if their arguments are over today and then the defense gets the last word, then they have to anticipate it."
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