Alan Dershowitz Warns That ‘Cancel Culture Is Quickly Becoming American Culture’

Posted on February 14, 2021 by LifeZette

Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz went on Fox News on Sunday to blast cancel culture, which was highlighted by threats made against former President Donald Trump’s defense attorney Michael Van Der Veen.

Dershowitz Compares Cancel Culture To McCarthyism

Dershowitz compared the current situation to McCarthyism in the twentieth century, and he also planned to fight it with all that he has.

“Cancel culture is quickly becoming American culture,” he said. “You know, Common Cause, which purports to be a liberal, not a radical organization, has now demanded that Facebook keep Donald Trump off its platform.”

“We are getting liberals, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times, saying Fox should be taken off cable networks. It’s a call for censorship,” he continued.

“I grew up during McCarthyism,” Dershowitz added. “I hated communism. But I defended the rights of lawyers to defend accused communists. And I defend today every lawyer.”

“And if any lawyer is the subject of this kind of McCarthyism, I will represent you pro bono,” he said. “I will represent you in front of universities, in front of bar associations. I’m going to dedicate myself to making sure that the new McCarthyism of the hard left doesn’t become American culture.”

Jim Jordan Weighs In

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) also weighed in on this, expressing similar sentiments to Dershowitz.

“On the day we had the impeachment vote on the house floor, I told my Democrat colleagues, I said, the cancel culture won’t just stop with Republicans. It will come after all of us in the end,” he said. “And that’s why we all have to push back.”

“If we don’t push back on this and stop it and stand up, as Mr. Dershowitz said, stand up for the Constitution and the First Amendment, it will only get worse,” Jordan added. “This is the No. 1 issue for the country to address today.”

On Saturday, the Senate voted to acquit Trump after Democrats tried to impeach him for allegedly inciting the Capitol riots last month.

Had they succeeded in impeaching him, Trump would not have been allowed to run for office in the future. The acquittal means that as of this writing, Trump will be permitted to run for president again in 2024.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 14, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Trump ‘Not Happy’ With His Legal Team’s First Appearance In Impeachment Trial

Posted on February 10, 2021 by John Hanson

According to a number of reports on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was very displeased with his legal team’s performance on the first day of his Senate impeachment trial.

Many members of Congress and pundits also criticized the Trump defense team’s showing, and particularly that of Bruce Castor.

Castor had once briefly served as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, and was the District Attorney for Montgomery County.

Multiple people tell me Trump was basically screaming as Castor made a meandering opening argument that struggled to get at the heart of the defense team's argument.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 9, 2021

Source: ‘President Trump Was Not Happy’

For about 45 minutes, Castor delivered a rambling opening speech and seemed to have a difficult time making many salient points to this case.

Sources close to Trump’s defense team reportedly told both Politico and CNN that Trump was “not happy” with how he was being represented by his lawyers.

One source reportedly told Politico, “President Trump was not happy with the performance of his legal team in action.”

In the weeks leading up to the impeachment trial, Trump’s legal team had a rough few weeks.

The former president’s previous team quit abruptly just three weeks before the trial reportedly because Trump insisted they make the argument that the election was stolen from him by the Democrats.

Kaitlan Collins: "Trump was not happy with [Bruce Castor's] performance. He was borderline screaming over what was going on as he was talking to people about this." pic.twitter.com/TwGXeZ7KDs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 9, 2021

Dershowitz On Castor: ‘I Have No Idea What He Is Doing’

After that controversy, Castor and attorney David Schoen came in as Trump’s primary legal representatives.

The two lawyers had little more than two weeks to prepare for the trial.

Neither Schoen nor Castor have reportedly agreed to make the case that the 2020 election was stolen from their client.

Trump’s lawyer for his first impeachment trial, Alan Dershowitz, said Trump’s legal team’s performance on Tuesday was not good.

Dershowitz said of Castor, “I have no idea what he is doing.”

'There is no argument – I have no idea what he is doing,' @AlanDersh on Trump's defense lawyer Bruce Castor 'talking nice' to U.S. Senators – via Newsmax TV's 'American Agenda.' https://t.co/VlT7z8drtO pic.twitter.com/7P7uVk5X19

— Newsmax (@newsmax) February 9, 2021

Perhaps the most surprising comment from Castor, which many on the left were quick to pounce on, was his assertion that Trump lost the election fair and square – a big departure from Trump’s claim that the election was stolen:

Here’s Bruce Castor admitting that Trump lost fair and square pic.twitter.com/cNLUqkqDyo

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 9, 2021

Republican Sen. John Cornyn Was Not Impressed

“The American people are entitled to an argument,” Dershowitz told Newsmax. “But this, just, after all kinds of very strong presentations on the part of the House managers… it does not appear to me to be effective advocacy.”

Dershowitz wasn’t the only one unimpressed. One prominent member of Trump’s own party was not the least bit impressed with what he saw from Team Trump on Tuesday.

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn reportedly said, “I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that was, that was not one of the finest I’ve seen.”

Another Republican, perhaps the biggest surprise among the GOP Senators who voted that the trial for a former president was constitutional, was Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

Speaking of the proceedings, Cassidy said, “Trump’s team was disorganized, they did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand. And when they talked about it, they kind of glided over it, almost as if they were embarrassed of their arguments.”

“Now if I’m an impartial juror and one side is doing a great job and the other side is doing a terrible job on the issue at hand, as an impartial juror, I’m going to vote for the side that did the good job,” he said.

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Jared Kushner Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize By Alan Dershowitz For His Work On Israel Peace Efforts

Posted on February 2, 2021 by LifeZette

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz has officially nominated former White House advisor Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, for a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in “negotiating four normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations known as the ‘Abraham Accords.””

Dershowitz Nominates Kushner For Nobel Peace Prize

Both Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, who was the Middle East envoy, were nominated by Dershowitz on Sunday. Dershowitz, who represented former President Trump during his first impeachment trial last year, was able to nominate the two men for this honor thanks to his position as professor emeritus of Harvard Law School.

In his letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee, Dershowitz admitted that while his nomination will probably not be popular, it is deserved.

“The Nobel Peace Prize is not for popularity,” he wrote, according to Reuters. “Nor is it an assessment of what the international community may think of those who helped bring about peace. It is an award for fulfilling the daunting criteria set out by Alfred Nobel in his will.”

Kushner Praised For Abraham Accords

Dershowitz went on to describe the Abraham Accords, which were brought about between August and December of last year, as “the most significant diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East in 25 years.”

“We encourage efforts to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue to advance a culture of peace among the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity,” the United States said of the Abraham Accords on State Department website.

“We believe that the best way to address challenges is through cooperation and dialogue and that developing friendly relations among States advances the interests of lasting peace in the Middle East and around the world,” the statement added.

Kushner Responds

Kushner reportedly “said he was honored to be nominated for the prize,” according to Reuters.

Liberals are undoubtedly losing their minds over this, as they are out to vilify Kushner and every other person with ties to Trump. We applaud Dershowitz for giving Kushner the respect he deserves and for honoring the historic work he did regarding Israel.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 2, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Most Americans Say Trump Impeachment Will Only Divide Us More

Posted on January 30, 2021 by LifeZette

Democrats are on a mission right now to impeach former President Donald Trump in the Senate, but a new poll might make them think twice about this, as it’s showing that this may not be what the majority of Americans want.

Americans Think Trump Impeachment Will Divide Us

A new Rasmussen Reports poll found that 57% of likely voters said that another Trump impeachment will only divide Americans more.

It also found that only 19% believe the impeachment trial will unify Americans, and 20% said it wouldn’t have any impact on unity one way or the other.

On top of that, the poll concluded that 50% of likely voters believe that the Senate should not convict the Trump of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and 45% said he should be convicted at all.

The House voted to impeach Trump for a second time earlier this month for “incitement of insurrection” regarding the Capitol riots.

Rand Paul Blasts Impeachment

This comes after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke out to say that the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of Trump is already “dead on arrival.”

“We had 45 people, 45 Republican senators say that the whole charade is unconstitutional,” Paul told Fox News earlier this week. “So, what does that mean? It means … the trial is dead on arrival.”

“There will be a show,” he added. “There will be a parade of partisanship, but the Democrats really will not be able to win. They will be able to play a partisan game that they wish to play. But it’s all over.”

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said on BlazeTV’s “Glenn Beck Program” that the Trump impeachment is “unconstitutional.”

“The Constitution says the purpose of impeachment is to remove somebody,” Dershowitz said.”He [Trump] is out of office. There’s nothing left to do. It doesn’t say you can impeach him to disqualify him for the future. It says, if you remove him you can then add disqualification, but you can’t just impeach somebody to disqualify them.”

It should be noted that no president has ever been impeached after they have left office.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 29, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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There Is No Strict Legal Test of Impeachment

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Andrew C. McCarthy

On impeachment, the dispositive issue is always whether the acts in question are justifiable. If they are, a president cannot properly be impeached.

Dershowitz says his impeachment argument was misinterpreted

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Mark Sherman, Associated Press

Alan Dershowitz delivered a stunning defense of President Donald Trump in the Senate that would essentially make it impossible to impeach a president for anything he might do to boost his reelection prospects. His remarks drew widespread criticism from legal scholars and presidential historians who said there were clear limits on presidential authority.

Bolton Video Guts Democrat Witness Strategy

Posted on January 30, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 30, 2020

Well, well.

One thing about DC is that everyone has said everything at one time or another for every reason.

So it is with former temporary Democrat savior and darling John Bolton. The Democrats wanted him on the witness stand in the senate impeachment trial of President Trump because, in an illegally leaked book passage to gin up book preorders, Bolton claimed that the president directly told him that Ukrainian military aid was completely tied to a political hit on Joe Biden by the Ukrainians.

Turns out, it was all a gimmick to sell books.

We know this because the president and the busy bees on his opposition research staff have unearthed a video in which former Trump National Security Advisor Bolton makes no mention of any quid pro quo in the Ukrainian matter. None.

They also found clips of Schiff personally trashing Bolton.

Given the Democrats obsessed on Bolton and his supposed damning indictment of the president during the entire Wednesday session of the trial they have some explaining to do when the Thursday session rolls around. No doubt Jay Sekulow and Alan Dershowitz can’t wait to hear it.

The first video is an August 2019 clip from Radio Free Europe. In the interview Bolton says the presidential relationship with Ukrainian president Zelensky was “warm and cordial.” He says not a word about misconduct on the part of President Trump. He even makes the GOP president’s case by saying fighting corruption in Ukraine was a “high priority” for Trump.

But now, with Bolton needing cash for a post White House career, he changes his tune. Well golly, what a surprise.

Seeing the clip the President Trump tweeted: “Game over.”

And what of the honesty and credibility of prospective Democrat star witness Bolton? Let Adam Schiff explain it to us, “This is someone who’s likely to exaggerate the dangerous impulses of the president toward belligerence, his proclivity to act without thinking, and his love of conspiracy theories,” Schiff said to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on March 22, 2018.

And in 2005…
“And particularly given the history, where we’ve had the politicizing of intelligence over WMD [weapons of mass destruction], why we would pick someone who the very same issue has been raised repeatedly, and that is John Bolton’s politicization of the intelligence he got on Cuba and other issues, why we would want someone with that lack of credibility, I can’t understand,” Schiff said, emphasis mine.

The GOP legal team will most probably be ready with those clips at the trial on Thursday. Fun will ensue.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Clashes Continue in Trial on Wednesday, GOP Holds Advantage

Posted on January 30, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 30, 2020

The mood was legal yet the elements of fiery controversy were there on Wednesday during the Democrat Combover Festival and Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.

Most GOP questions were handled by attorney Patrick Philbin. But Alan Dershowitz, Pat Cipollone, Pam Bondi and Jay Sekulow also got their turn at bat. The Democrats inexplicably continued to go with the hard on the ear team of Nadler and Schiff, relegating better litigators like Jeffries and Crow to the general sidelines for most of the day.

The Democrats also continued to let the unintentionally comic Val Demings take the podium. She is so inarticulate that her time on camera has become the designated bathroom break time for Democrat and GOP Hill staffers alike.

Other developments were as follows:

The questions from the senators were mostly contrived set ups to their own party’s lawyers. When they addressed the other side the questions became increasingly aggressive as the day wore on.
Supposed swing vote GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine was seen to be visibly upset at Democrat insults to her and other senators. The Democrats are pushing her towards acquittal.
GOP Senator Rand Paul had a question thrown back at him by Chief Justice John Roberts when Paul named Eric Ciaramella as the informer. More details on that in a following article.
The Democrats focused on Bolton. Yet the GOP, and you will be sure to hear of this today, unearthed videos where Bolton states there was nothing amiss with the president’s communications with the Ukrainians.
A constant GOP theme during the day was that policy or political differences are not sufficient to meet the standard of impeachment set forth by the Founders.The Democrats countered with their usual “big lie” strategy of ignoring reality and focusing on their fictional talking points. Schiff even revisited his old trick of making up lines he then insinuates were the president’s real meanings.
The Democrats stoked the fire on their love affair with the hapless Lt. Colonel “Flounder” Vindman, even though his was perhaps the worst and most discredited testimony during the House hearings.
Jay Sekulow showcased the poison pill defense, as we predicted. He said he would call both Bidens, Schiff, and Ciaramella to the stand, at the very least, if the Senate voted for witnesses.

The New York-California Axis was on display during the Democrat presentations, as the leftist party can’t seem to find very many legal acolytes or elected supporters much distant from the Big Rotten Apple or the Left Coast.
Swing vote possibility Democrat Senator John Tester, given the nature of a question he sent to the Chief Justice for the Democrat House managers, may be leaning against the president.

More to follow…

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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‘The View’ Goes Off The Rails As Impeachment Lawyer Alan Dershowitz ‘Triggers’ Hosts By Defending Trump

Posted on January 29, 2020 by LifeZette

By PopZette Staff | January 29, 2020

The ABC talk show “The View” exploded on Wednesday when Alan Dershowitz defended President Donald Trump from the liberal cohosts’ attacks as they talked about the Senate impeachment trial.

Hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg came particularly unhinged while talking to Dershowitz, with the former calling his arguments “baloney” and the latter cutting him off at one point. When Behar claimed that no other constitutional scholar agreed with his assertion that a crime is necessary for impeachment, Dershowitz tried to give her a quick history lesson.

“In 18…,” Dershowitz began before Goldberg rudely cut him off, saying, “Ok, wait, wait, wait. Alan, you know, in 1492 Columbus sailed the seas blue but listen, I need us to move on.”

Dershowitz fired back by saying that he would not move on before he could give some historical context on impeachment, but Goldberg refused to back down.

“You’re not going to get any time because you got four people trying to ask you questions,” she said.

Undeterred, Dershowitz explained to the women that many scholars have taken their current stances on impeachment because of their personal opinions on Trump.

“Shortly after the Constitution was enacted, the dean of Columbia Law School said that the weight of authority was in favor of it being a crime,” he said. “Now, the academics all say it isn’t. Why? Because Donald Trump is being impeached. If Hillary Clinton was being impeached, they’d all be on my side.”

This simple argument was enough to cause Behar to lose it.

“That’s just baloney, that’s just baloney,” she exclaimed.

Pres. Trump's impeachment attorney Alan Dershowitz to the co-hosts: “The charge of ‘obstruction of Congress’ and ‘abuse of power’ are not within the constitutional terms high crimes and misdemeanors — the Framers rejected terms just like that.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/EyMCwKUTNG

— The View (@TheView) January 29, 2020

As chaos continued to erupt, Goldberg finally threatened Dershowitz by saying, “I’m moving you on or I’m cutting you off — one or the other is going to happen.”

Things only went downhill from there, as “The View’s” cohosts tried to make Dershowitz look like a hypocrite by playing a 21 year-old clip in which he said that impeachment “doesn’t have to be a crime.” Though Goldberg accused him of only changing his mind because Trump is the president, Dershowitz countered this by explaining that he actually changed his mind on this point four years ago, when he was looking at the possibility of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton being impeached if she won the presidency.

Trump impeachment attorney Alan Dershowitz reacts to a 1998 video where he says impeachment “doesn’t have to be a crime” — which he now contradicts.

“Academics change their minds on the basis of research. I didn’t do it on a partisan basis.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/lwgV8dicCW

— The View (@TheView) January 29, 2020

Despite the fact that the liberal cohosts were clearly ganging up on him, Dershowitz continued to hold his own. At one point, he even caused Goldberg to whine when he referenced Abraham Lincoln, saying, “You have to go back in history. Impeachment doesn’t change since the time of the Constitution.”

“You should never have an impeachment unless there’s broad, widespread, non-partisan support — that doesn’t exist here,” he later added.

Trump impeachment attorney Alan Dershowitz to the co-hosts: "You should never have an impeachment unless there's broad, widespread, non-partisan support — that doesn't exist here." https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/1q9Te5mpoY

— The View (@TheView) January 29, 2020

Behar, Goldberg, and their fellow liberals have this kind of visceral reaction to Dershowitz because deep down, they know he is right. This entire impeachment debacle is nothing more than pathetic vendetta from the Democratic Party, which has still not gotten over Trump beating Clinton in 2016.

In the end, the impeachment effort is nothing more than a huge waste of time, as there is virtually no chance of Trump being impeached by the Senate. All it’s accomplishing is showing Americans everywhere just how much anti-Trump hatred leftists have in their hearts.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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GOP Trial Defense Team Wraps Up, Scores Big

Posted on January 28, 2020 by LifeZette

By David Kamioner | January 28, 2020

Tuesday, the last day of the GOP case to the Senate in defense of President Trump, was marked by scholarly analysis and low key appeals to basic integrity by presidential attorneys Pat Cipollone, Patrick Philbin, and Jay Sekulow.

Philbin led off the day, after an intro by Cipollone, expounding on points made Monday by Alan Dershowitz. He specifically warned of the expansive nature and vague context of the “abuse of power” impeachment charge against the president, likening it to a Bill of Attainder.

That kind of bill, legislation targeting a single individual, was prohibited by the Founders in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.

The podium was then taken by Jay Sekulow who, eschewing his usual tough manner, moderately emphasized that elections, not impeachments, are the proper way to change presidents in this nation.

He did castigate Democrat manager Jerry Nadler for referring to executive privilege as “other nonsense.” In warning of Nadler’s attitude and impeachment itself, Sekulow oddly channeled the robot from “Lost in Space” as he intoned “danger, danger, danger” more than once.

Will Robinson could not be reached for comment.

Pat Cipollone concluded the active defense case with a subtle, yet hard-hitting, strike against the Democrats by playing videos showcasing their own words from the Clinton impeachment against them.

Nadler, Lofgren, and even Chuck Schumer had to sit there mortified while their on-screen selves from over 20 years ago warned against partisan impeachment and the negative future effects of it on the nation and the presidency.

Schumer even predicted then that Democrats would want “payback” in the future and would unfairly target a GOP president.

Upon seeing that, Cipollone simply responded, “You were right.”

Pat Cipollone closed with a sincere appeal to the Senate, “It is time for this to end here and now.” His manner and tone were agreeable, even gentle, as he asked the 100 members of the U.S. Senate to look to the better angels of their natures and defend the Constitution by rejecting these articles of impeachment. His pitch seemed to be convincing and effective, as opposed to the bombast of the Democrat legal team.

The Senate reconvenes Wednesday at 1pm to begin two days of senatorial questions to opposing legal teams. Chief Justice Roberts asked that responses be brief.

Whether the legal teams will act as such remains to be seen.

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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