Alan Dershowitz: Trump case a misuse of the criminal justice system to influence an election
Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former Department of Defense Chief of Staff Kash Patel discuss former President Donald Trump’s criminal case over Jan. 6.
Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told "Sunday Morning Futures" that the legal battles against former President Donald Trump constitute "a kind of election fraud" as Special Counsel Jack Smith calls on the Supreme Court to expedite a decision in the election interference case.
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ALAN DERSHOWITZ: It's very hard to prove fraud by government agencies, but I think in the court of public opinion, what we're seeing is an attempt to get down and dirty convictions of Donald Trump. Of course, they're going to get convictions if they bring trial in New York City or in the District of Columbia and Fulton County, knowing that it's very likely that a number of these convictions be reversed on appeal after the election. And that really does constitute a kind of election fraud, misusing the criminal justice system to influence an election. You know, the Department of Justice has regulation saying never, never, ever timed prosecutions to have an impact on the elections. And these manipulations are clearly designed to have an impact on the elections, and they will cause many Americans, if their results are against Trump, they will cause many Americans to say it was dirty pool. And what we need more than anything else is the cleanest possible election in 2024 without any political thumbs on the scale of the justice system, which will entitle people to question the election. We need an election, whichever way it comes out, in which every American says this is fair, let's move on.
A New York Times guest essay argued that the Department of Justice's prosecution of former President Donald Trump, even if successful, may have "terrible consequences" for America. (Getty Images)
Smith asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Smith's Monday filing seeks to go around an appeals court that had initially been expected to handle the case. A federal judge had earlier ruled that the prosecution could move forward, though Trump's legal team vowed to appeal the ruling.
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"This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin," prosecutors wrote in Monday's filing.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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