Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said special counsel Jack Smith himself could be indicted if charges against former President Donald Trump are dropped.
After securing 37 indictments against Trump in June based on an investigation into alleged classified documents, Smith filed four in connection with Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. , which was supplemented by a superseding judgment. The indictment, issued Thursday, also included charges against Carlos de Oliveira, a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago, a Florida mansion owned by former President Trump. Trump is scheduled to be arraigned on August 3 with the January 6 indictment. (Related article: ‘Turn it into a haiku’: Jonathan Turley says much of Trump’s Jan. 6 indictment was ‘protected speech’)
“The worst thing about this indictment is that Jack Smith could be indicted under this indictment clause. Let me explain why,” Dershowitz said. “The law says that when two or more persons conspire to harm someone and deny them the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege guaranteed to them by the Constitution: Strictly speaking, what if we ruled that Donald Trump had the right to give the Jan. 6 speech and do the act under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? Smith would have conspired to deny him that right, and that’s how serious this is.”
clock:
“Jack Smith… deliberately, deliberately, and maliciously omitted a line that President Trump said in his terrible January 6 speech. I disagree with that, but what he said was: ‘We want you to come together peacefully and patriotically,'” Dershowitz added. “Jack [Smith] I will leave it out. It’s a lie, a lie, a lie of omission, and if you’re going to indict someone for lying, don’t lie in the indictment. If you’re going to prosecute someone for denying their constitutional rights, don’t deny them their constitutional rights by prosecuting them for free speech. So hypocritical. ”
Dershowitz earlier said that Smith’s indictment named the attorneys who represented Trump as unindicted co-conspirators and denied Trump’s Sixth Amendment legal counsel rights. He said it was targeted.
“The Supreme Court stated in the Chief Justice’s Opinion: [William] Rehnquist: Under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, there are no such things as wrong opinions or wrong ideas. The reaction to the wrong idea is the market for ideas or Election Day,” Dershowitz said. “So you’re absolutely right. This is a very dangerous indictment, and it’s dangerous for the First Amendment, and it’s dangerous for the Sixth Amendment because it’s Trump’s Because you’re going after the lawyers directly and naming them as unindicted co-conspirators without revealing their names, but basically saying, ‘They gave him advice on how to challenge the election. is a criminal ”
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news distribution service, is available free of charge to legitimate news publishers capable of serving large audiences. All reissues must include our company logo, press byline, and DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
