Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz defended President Trump in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, saying one can’t question a “president’s motives when the president acts.”
Dershowitz was asked during an interview with ABC News on Sunday whether special counsel Robert Mueller could make a case Trump obstructed justice without having interviewed him.
“A president cannot be charged with obstruction of justice for merely exercising his power under Article II” of the Constitution, Dershowitz said.
“You cannot question a president’s motives when the president acts,” he continued. “If a president pardons, that’s it. If a president fires, that’s it. You can’t go beyond the act and get into his motive or into his intent.”
Dershowitz said that even if the president pardoned someone to cover up a murder, “it doesn’t matter.”
“The pardon is the pardon. The covering up of the murder may be an independent crime, the pardon cannot be the actus reus of a crime because you cannot have an actus reus of a crime that is a constitutionally protected act,” he said.
Dershowitz has emerged as a frequent defender of Trump, who commonly refers to Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt” that is run by “13 angry Democrats.”
Mueller is investigating Russian meddling and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. One of the focuses of the probe is whether Trump obstructed the Russia investigation.
Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said Sunday that Trump’s legal team is “close to determining” whether Trump will sit down for an interview with Mueller. The president, he said, “wants to testify.”
