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Expert On Call: Why Dershowitz’s Constitutional Case Fell Flat

Alan Dershowitz (C), impeachment defense lawyer for US President Donald Trump, attends the announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 28, 2020. - T... Alan Dershowitz (C), impeachment defense lawyer for US President Donald Trump, attends the announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 28, 2020. - Trump declared that Israel was taking a "big step towards peace" as he unveiled a plan aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Today, Israel takes a big step towards peace," Trump said, standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he revealed details of the plan already emphatically rejected by the Palestinians. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS

January 28, 2020 2:57 p.m.

President Trump’s impeachment defense team has been all over the place, deploying an at-times unhinged, but transparent string of defenses since they took over the Senate trial on Saturday.

Before the trial wrapped up for the evening on Monday, Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz took to the floor to lay out a constitutional case against impeaching the President, resurrecting the former President Andrew Johnson-era defense that an act has to be criminal to be impeachable. I spoke to one of our on-call experts about why this argument is dizzying.

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