Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz predicted Sunday that the special counsel’s report will be “devastating” to President Trump while falling short of finding criminal wrongdoing.
“I think the report is going to be devastating to the president, and I know that the president’s team is already working on a response to the report,” Mr. Dershowitz said on ABC’s “This Week.”
At the same time, Mr. Dershowitz said that the report, while “politically very devastating,” is unlikely to produce criminal charges.
“When I say devastating, I mean it’s going to paint a picture that’s going to be politically very devastating. I still don’t think it’s going to make a criminal case,” Mr. Dershowitz said, adding, “Collusion is not criminal.”
The legal expert, who has defended Mr. Trump in the past, said that whenever the report is released, “it will be made public probably with a response alongside.”
Alan Dershowitz, a frequent Trump defender, says the Mueller report will be “devastating” for the president: “It’s going to paint a picture that’s going to be politically very devastating. I still don’t think it’s going to make a criminal case” https://t.co/KqWAc6L38G #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/kso9lYW45u
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 25, 2018
Special counsel Robert Mueller would be well advised to lay out the case and allow Congress to draw its own conclusions, he said.
“What I think Mueller’s going to do if he’s smart, he’s not going to take a chance on being rebutted, he’s going to just lay out just the facts, ma’am, he’s going to lay out the facts and leave it to Congress to decide whether that rises to the level of an impeachable offense,” Mr. Dershowitz said.
Democrats and some Republicans have called for legislation to protect the Mueller investigation following the elevation earlier this month of Matthew Whitaker, a past critic of the probe, to the position of acting attorney general.
“I’m really concerned about having him in charge,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat. “As you know, we have tried in the Senate on a bipartisan basis, to protect that investigation by law.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.