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Tags: alan dershowitz | law expert | civil liberties | constitution
OPINION

Ruddy: Where Was Dershowitz?

constitutional law panelists before the senate judiciary committee during the house democrats' impeachment inquiry
(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Christopher Ruddy By Thursday, 05 December 2019 05:16 PM EST Current | Bio | Archive

The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony all day Wednesday from four legal scholars who were called to explain to the members what acts would be considered impeachable offenses under the U.S. Constitution.

Three were called by Democratic committee members and just one, Prof. Jonathan Turley, was called by Republicans.

But noticeably missing was arguably the most famous constitutional lawyer and acclaimed civil libertarian in the nation: Alan Dershowitz.

In 1967, he became the youngest full professor in the history of Harvard Law School and has made waves, big ones, ever since.

Like Dershowitz, all four testifying were politically liberal to far-left Democrats, who did not vote for President Donald Trump in 2016.

Why was Dershowitz not invited then?

The simple answer is House Democrats do not like his views.

Unlike those who testified, Dershowitz is one of the undisputed authorities on Constitutional law.

Dershowitz told Newsmax TV after the hearings, "I've watched every minute of” Wednesday's testimony." His conclusion: "I've learned nothing."

Every person in the room could have learned much from Dershowitz.

For example, Prof. Michael Gerhardt testified Trump committed an impeachable offense when he asked the courts to resolve differences between the executive and legislative branches.

Dershowitz would have responded, "Our system of checks and balances permits a president to resist congressional subpoenas if he believes that the information sought is privileged. It is the function of the judicial branch to resolve such disputes."

Like many Americans, Dershowitz is disturbed by what he is seeing.

"We're seeing a complete distortion of due process in the interest of just reaching a result, which is to be a partisan result," he said.

Gerhardt, along with the other two witnesses called by Democrats, tried to make hay out of the president's July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during which Trump said, "I would like you to do us a favor though . . ." 

Trump did not ask "do me a favor" but rather "do us a favor," explaining that "our country has been through a lot."

The Democratic witnesses nonetheless believed this to be an act of "bribery" and an impeachable offense, citing the fact Trump asked for an investigation of the Bidens.

But the problem is that this did not happen.

On the call, President Trump talked about Ukraine investigating the 2016 hacking of DNC servers, which he believes might have emanated from the Ukraine. That was the "favor" he was referring to, the transcript is quite clear.

At the very end of their 40-minute phone conversation, after Zelenskiy raised the issue again of an investigation, Trump added the Ukrainians should also look into the Biden's involvement in the firing of a local prosecutor who was uncovering corruption.

Dershowitz calls this request by the president a "political sin," not a crime and certainly not a high crime.

It may be worth noting that all three witnesses called by Democrats exhibited an outright disdain for the president, especially Pamela Karlan, who brought the president’s minor son into the conversation. Rep. Gaetz called her out on it.

Another Democratic witness, Prof. Noah Feldman, arguably made a laughable comment by testifying, "Until this call on July 25, I was an 'impeachment skeptic.'"

As it turns out, 48 days after Trump was inaugurated, Feldman wrote an op-ed for Bloomberg News headlined, "Trump's Wiretap Tweets Raise Risk of Impeachment."

In it, Feldman argued the president's claims the Obama administration surveilled members of his campaign amounted to "presidential misconduct."

He added, "The constitutional remedy for presidential misconduct is impeachment."

And what is the remedy for Congressional misconduct, where the accused is not allowed to bring their own witnesses or even cross-examine their accusers?

Well, we will have to ask Dershowitz.

Michael Dorstewitz contributed to this story.

Christopher Ruddy is CEO of Newsmax, one of the country's leading conservative news outlets. Read more Christopher Ruddy Insider articles — Click Here Now.

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Ruddy
Noticeably missing from Wednesday's constitutional law hearing was arguably the most famous constitutional lawyer and acclaimed civil libertarian in the nation, Alan Dershowitz, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy laments.
alan dershowitz, law expert, civil liberties, constitution
651
2019-16-05
Thursday, 05 December 2019 05:16 PM
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