Retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who was recently added to Trump’s impeachment defense team, said Friday on MSNBC that “abuse of power, even if proved, is not an impeachable offense.”
“Abuse of power, even if proved, is not an impeachable offense. That’s exactly what the framers rejected. They didn’t want to give Congress the authority to remove a president because he abused his power. They have to prove treason, they have to prove bribery, or they have to prove other crimes and misdemeanors,” Dershowitz said to Ari Melber on The Beat.
“Virtually half of American presidents — from Adams, to Jefferson, to Lincoln, to Roosevelt — have been accused of abuse of power, and the framers explicitly rejected those kinds of broad, open-ended criteria,” the professor added.
Dershowitz explained that during the impeachment trial he will lay out the argument that Democrats have not met the criteria for impeachment.
It was learned on Friday that Dershowitz, along with former independent counsel Ken Starr, was added to Trump’s impeachment team defense roster.
Dershowitz released a statement when the news of his appointment broke, written in third-person, which read, “Professor Dershowitz will present oral arguments at the Senate trial to address the constitutional arguments against impeachment and removal. While Professor Dershowitz is non partisan when it comes to the Constitution — he opposed the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and voted for Hillary Clinton — he believes the issues at stake go to the heart of our enduring Constitution. He is participating in this impeachment trial to defend the integrity of the Constitution and to prevent the creation of a dangerous constitutional precedent.”
The Senate trial is expected to continue on Tuesday with a vote on trial procedures.
