Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz accused former FBI Director James Comey of feeding the speculative frenzy around the investigation into President Trump, by leaving open the idea that some accusations against him are true, even though he has seen no evidence.
Dershowitz spoke on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s radio program, after Comey said over the weekend that it’s “possible” that Trump paid to watch hookers urinate on a hotel bed in Russia. He also said it’s “possible” that Russia has dirt on Trump that could be used as leverage against America.
“What is the director of the FBI going around peddling these kinds of salacious rumors into national television, without knowing whether it’s true or not?” Dershowitz asked.
“He could have just as easily said, ‘I have seen no evidence in any way to validate the allegations’ of what I call the ‘leak leak,’ the stuff about, you know, beds and urination,” Dershowitz said. “I’ve seen no evidence to support that, and he should have said the same thing about other issues, whether the Russians have him over a barrel. He should have said, ‘I have seen no evidence to support them.'”
“He’s just engaging in such speculation that’s so unsuitable for a former director of the FBI who’s supposed to go on facts, facts, facts,” he said. “But yesterday, it was very, very disappointing to hear him speculate, and always the speculation is against the president,” he said.
Dershowitz has been hammering the investigation into Trump and, more recently, the FBI’s raid of Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Dershowitz has said that raid puts at risk attorney-client privilege in the U.S., because the raid likely gave the FBI access to information that should be privileged between a lawyer and his or her client.
Dershowitz has said Trump should ask the court to let a neutral party examine the documents taken and decide which ones can be used as the FBI continues to examine Trump. Trump took that advice and asked a court on Monday for that step to be taken.
