Barring some extraordinary finding, the Senate will likely acquit President Trump handily. That is, if he stops getting in his own way.
In the latest unforced error dragging a relatively predictable impeachment trial back into the news cycle, Trump tacked on Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz to his defense team. The notion of champion of the Clinton impeachment now defending Trump is ironic, to say the least. But having Dershowitz do so is deeply, deeply detrimental to Trump’s public defense.
As one of the nation’s top criminal defense attorneys, Dershowitz has taken some of the vilest alleged rapists and murderers as his clients. But even Harvey Weinstein and O.J. Simpson are entitled to robust criminal defense, and Dershowitz doing his job shouldn’t prove disqualifying.
But his ongoing and self-ensnared legal drama with Jeffrey Epstein should be, at least as a matter of public-relations pragmatism.
Epstein may have killed himself (or not), but the legal fracas surrounding his reign of rape is still very much alive. Dershowitz, who helped broker the 2008 non-prosecution agreement that resulted in Epstein spending just 13 months in prison, was still legally advising the late billionaire within a year before his death. This is unconscionable when you consider that Dershowitz has been accused in court of committing sex crimes with Epstein. Virginia Roberts Guiffre named Dershowitz alongside Epstein and Prince Andrew in a since-settled lawsuit charging them with rape, and Roberts Guiffre and her attorney David Boies have filed separate active lawsuits against Dershowitz for defamation related to the case.
[Previous coverage: Alan Dershowitz touts his ‘perfect sex life’ in feud with Epstein accuser’s lawyer]
Dershowitz had forcefully denied the allegation. Yet to continue to advise someone legally while you’ve been allegedly implicated in their crimes is uncommon. To do so publicly for the most high-profile sexual predator on the planet is virtually insanity.
Accused doesn’t mean guilty, but it does mean a public relations nightmare needlessly brought upon the Trump administration, especially considering Trump himself had ties to Epstein prior to his 2008 guilty plea. (Trump reportedly kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago after he realized Epstein behaved inappropriately towards underage girls. The sole allegation made against Trump in conjunction with Epstein is an anonymous lawsuit alleging rape. When Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen asked American Media, Inc., to investigate the identity of the elusive accuser, AMI came up short. The allegation remains wholly unfounded.)
It’s true that Trump values loyal talking heads like Dershowitz, who take to cable news to defend him around the clock. It’s even truer that on some level, Trump probably enjoys the media mayhem as he trolls in his defense team selection. But while partisans can easily forgive the Starr selection, choosing Dershowitz reignites Trump’s problem with women when he needs their support the most.
It’s impossible to imagine even centrist Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine or Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting to convict Trump. But does Trump really want to make that acquittal vote cost Collins more in her reelection by infusing an extra dose of a #MeToo angle into his impeachment trial? It’s morally dubious and, at best, politically reckless.
