Famed lawyer Alan Dershowitz warned President Trump Sunday against speaking under oath regarding the sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him.
“Trump should not testify about them because that’s his real vulnerability. That’s where Bill Clinton made the mistake. He was walked into a perjury trap by his lawyer,” Dershowitz told the “The Cats Roundtable” on AM 970 in New York.
“President Trump should not make that mistake. He should not discuss this at all. He should say, ‘Look, my private life before I became president is my private life,’” he continued.
Dershowitz made the comments while discussing trials in the court of public opinion in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
“You can’t defend yourself. If you defend yourself, you’re regarded as somehow part of the culture of abuse and culture of rape,” he said.
“We have to get back to the time when we had a presumption of innocence for all crimes, whether you’re the president of the United States or the head of the Wynn enterprises,“ he added, referring to Steve Wynn, the casino and luxury hotel magnate who has been accused of sexual assault.
Trump’s legal counsel is reportedly negotiating terms for a possible in-person interview as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Trump is also facing several multiple related to contested nondisclosure agreements with women claiming to have had affairs with him.
The most high-profile is that with former porn star Stormy Daniels, who is arguing her nondisclosure arrangement with Trump is invalid because only Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer, signed the deal for $130,000 days before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s legal team is seeking to have the dispute settled via private arbitration.
