Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, a usual ally of President Trump, says he will not defend the president in his second impeachment trial impending in the Senate.
Dershowitz circled back on his vow that he would help Trump if he were to face another impeachment, telling the Boston Herald on Thursday, “I am not going to be (involved).”
The famed lawyer, who defended Trump in his first impeachment trial, called the second move pushed by House Democrats “political theater” and said, “There really is no room for a lawyer (to get involved).”
While Dershowitz said he believes Trump’s speech during his Jan. 6 rally was protected by the First Amendment, the lawyer expressed harsh sentiment against the president in a previous interview with Today, saying he believed Trump committed a “political and moral sin” by provoking supporters to overtake the U.S. Capitol.
“I think the events of last Wednesday were a disaster for him personally, for his presidency and for the American people,” Dershowitz said. “What he did was constitutionally protected, he had the right to do it, but that doesn’t make it right.”
The House voted on Wednesday to impeach Trump for “high crimes and misdemeanors” related to inciting an insurrection against the federal government at the Capitol last week. The deadly breach left five people dead, prompting local and federal leaders to beef up security in Washington, D.C., ahead of Inauguration Day.
Trump was first impeached by the Democratic-controlled House in December 2019 on two Ukraine-related charges but was acquitted by the GOP-led Senate.
If the Senate votes to convict Trump this time around, which will likely not begin until he is out of office, he will most likely be barred from holding any federal office in the future, according to NPR.
