Legal scholar and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on the Charlie Kirk Show to discuss the new indictment against former President Donald Trump.
The new incoming indictment in Fulton County against Trump alleges that Trump violated Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act among others because of a phone call with then Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger.
Kirk and Dershowitz covered the law professor’s new book, Get Trump, where he talks about the consequences of what wrongful legal action against Trump would mean for the country. "This indictment is based largely on that telephone call, in which he said to Raffensperger, 'Find' - not invent, not concoct, not manufacture - 'Find me 11,780 votes.' Find means they're lost," Dershowitz said, referring to a phone call transcript wherein Trump told Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger to see if he could get enough votes in Georgia so that he could be elected. At the time the call was released it went through the news cycle framed as a "threat" to Raffensperger. Dershowitz, talking to Kirk, said that he doesn't think this indictment, or the others, will be held up in a court of law. Dershowitz said that the way Trump told Raffensperger to get the votes was to basically get him to "look hard." Dershowitz went on to say that he and others, in legally representing Al Gore in the 2000 election, had taken steps to legally challenge an election by putting together a "slate of alternate electors" in Florida. He said this is the legal way to challenge an election instead of indicting opponents in ongoing elections. Kirk and Dershowitz discussed the ease with which the indictment process, especially against someone like the former president, could be. The possible charges of the oncoming new indictment include, aside from violating the RICO act, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, and conspiracy to file false documents. Dershowitz said that with these charges, the courts are essentially claiming that "if you exaggerate or lie in politics, and if you're Trump, that you can be indicted." "It's perfectly okay to lie on the other side," Dershowitz continued. "We've seen so many lies, so many lies during the first impeachment when I defended President Trump on the floor of the Senate. The Democrats had so many lies, but that's politics." Dershowitz went on to say that if you make "lying by politicians a crime, every congressional session will have to be held in Allenwood Prison." Dershowitz said that if political prosecution happens on one side it will then be sure to happen when the Republicans are in power. He added that the other case against Trump with regards to January 6 is overcomplex and overly political. Kirk and Dershowitz went over what will eventually happen during the trials involving Trump. They suspected that if convicted he would appeal and be found not guilty in higher courts all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. They also touched on the subject of the politicization of the Department of Justice. "We've explored this topic before professor, but it's worth repeating, for so-called Institutionalists that are running the Department of Justice," Kirk said. "They are indifferent to how half the country has zero trust in what the DOJ does now." Kirk called the politicization "shocking." Dershowitz responded that the best example showing the politicization of the DOJ was that in appointing a government official to the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden, the DOJ violated regulations by not appointing someone from outside the government. Commenting on progressive Democrats in the country Dershowitz said, "Many of them who just want to suppress any free speech and due process that doesn't satisfy their own goals." Dershowitz said that in the case of an incumbent administration going after an opponent in an election legally, the case must be a "slam dunk" and you basically have to "lean over backwards to be absolutely fair.” Dershowitz and Kirk alike did not think the facts of the case would pass, and believe the prosecution of Trump is completely political.
