Adam Schiff slammed a newly appointed impeachment defense attorney, claiming Donald Trump had to go ‘so far out of the mainstream’ to find someone to make the constitutional case against impeaching.
Alan Dershowitz, a liberal Democrat and Harvard Law professor , joined Trump’s defense team this week and told ABC News Sunday morning that he will make the case on the Senate floor that the president has not committed any impeachable offenses, according to the constitution.
‘When you read the text of the Constitution, treason bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, other really means that crimes and misdemeanors must be akin – akin to treason and bribery,’ Dershowitz George Stephanopoulos on This Week.
In a separate interview on This Week, the congressman leading the House Democratic prosecution team in the Senate trial clashed with Dershowitz, calling his argument ‘absurdist.’
‘You had to go so far out of the mainstream to find someone to make that argument,’ Schiff told Stephanopoulos. ‘You had to leave the realm of constitutional law scholars and go to criminal defense lawyers.’
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff told ABC Sunday morning that part of Trump’s legal defense is ‘absurdist’ as he slammed newly announced defense attorney Alan Dershowitz
Dershowitz, who appeared in a separate interview with ABC This Week Sunday morning, said he would argue that Democrats are attempting to remove Trump for offenses that are not detailed in the Constitution as impeachable
Dershowitz will make the case on the floor of the Senate that what the Democrats are accusing of Trump in the two articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – do not amount to the high crimes and misdemeanors. Outlined in the Constitution high crimes and misdemeanors, which are grounds for impeachment, are detailed as treason and bribery.
‘The argument is a strong one, the Senate should hear it. I am privileged to be able to make it,’ Dershowitz said, hitting back at Schiff.
Dershowitz, who also was a defense attorney for Jeffrey Epstein and OJ Simpson, claimed Schiff’s comments were ‘to insult one of the greatest jurists in American history,’ referring to Justice Benjamin Curtis, who first made the argument in Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial.
The White House announced Friday that Dershowitz, along with high-profile lawyer Ken Starr, will joint Trump’s legal defense in the Senate impeachment trial.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Wednesday that seven Democrats who will serve as managers in the trial – and Schiff is at the helm of that team.
After the articles of impeachment were signed Wednesday, Schiff, along with the six other impeachment managers hand-delivered them to the Senate
He will also be joined by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler.
The impeachment articles were officially transmitted to the Senate on Wednesday evening – Pelosi signed them after holding them in the House for a month.
Trump’s legal team issued a furious response to the articles of impeachment, accusing House Democrats of engaging in a ‘dangerous attack’ on the rights of voters.
‘This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election now just months away,’ reads the filing sent Saturday in response to the Senate’s impeachment trial summons.
‘The highly partisan and reckless obsession with impeaching the President began the day he was inaugurated and continues to this day,’ it continues.
Dershowitz and Starr will present the opening arguments for Trump’s defense, which will commence when the proceedings begin Tuesday.
Dershowitz also defended Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 as part of his legal team when the millionaire businessman first faced federal allegations of sexual assault on teenage girls.
The White House also appointed attorney Ken Starr as part of the legal team for Trump who will participate in the opening arguments expected to begin next week
He also was an adviser to Harvey Weinstein’s legal team – and in 2018 wrote a book defending Trump, ‘The Case Against Impeaching Trump.’
During an interview with CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning, Dershowitz also claimed ‘McCarthyism’ when his positions in Epstein, Simpson and now Trump’s defense teams.
CNN’s Brianna Keilar noted to Dershowitz how both he and Starr were involved in the Epstein plea deal years ago.
‘That’s our job,’ Dershowitz said.
‘Do you think that the two of you being a part of this, considering how unpalatable an association, legal association with Jeffrey Epstein is, that that could actually backfire and not serve the president?’ she asked.
‘That’s what lawyers do,’ Dershowitz asserted.
‘In the case of Jeffrey Epstein and the others that you state, the victim or the alleged victim, all women,’ Keilar continued, ‘You have a number of senators, including female senators and lot of their constituents who are female who may look at that, and they may not like that association. Do you think it will backfire?’
‘No, they understand that it’s pure McCarthyism to hold a lawyer responsible for having represented controversial clients under the sixth amendment,’ Dershowitz said. ‘It’s what lawyers do, it’s what lawyers should do, and I am proud of my role as a defense lawyer. I did nothing wrong in any of those cases.’