Famed Harvard Constitutional Law Professor emeritus 83-year-old Alan Dershowitz, who once defended O.J. Simpson in his 1995 murder trial, said he’s talked to several large law firms that want no part of defending 76-year-old former President Donald Trump. Dershowitz passionately defended Trump at his second Senate impeachment trial for “incitement of insurrection,” ending Feb. 13, 2021 in his acquittal. Dershowitz admitted, despite his advance age, of losing several possible legal cases after defending Trump, essentially blackballed in the industry. “All big-firm lawyers have told me that their firms wouldn’t let them do it,” Dershowitz said, all because the firms don’t want to lose clients who feel so strongly about Trump they wouldn’t risk their client-relationships. Dershowitz said after he represented Trump on purely Constitutional grounds, he lost a lot or friends and business associates.
Dershowitz doesn’t have a problems arguing Constitutional points that favor the former president, he has problem with the fallout that comes from the blackballing that comes afterward. Once the Capitol Hill riots took place, Dershowitz had no problem representing Trump on issues related to whether he actually helped plan and orchestrate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Dershowitz now has a problem with defending the president because of all the fallout from his colleagues and family. “Everybody who has called me has shown reluctance to do it,” Dershowitz said, about representing Trump. “They say their firms won’t let them do it. Their husbands or wives won’t let them do it. Their children won’t them do it. “Their friends won’t let them do it, even though they want to do it,” Dershowitz said. Trump finds himself with mounting legal wows stemming from his real estate business, Jan. 6 riots and Mar-a-Lago raid.
With all the speculation whether he’s run for president, you’d think that mounting legal woes would prevent him from running again. While there are no indictments that from the Department of Justice yet, it sure looks likes they’re on the way. When it comes to holding in boxes classified, even Top Secret, documents in the locked storage room of his Mar-a-Lago resident, it’s doubtful that will stop the DOJ from Deputy Atty. Gen. Lisa Monaco, Atty’s Gen. Merrick Garland’s second in charge, from indicting Trump. Monaco is an Obama deep-stater who held former FBI Director James Comey launch Operation Crossfire Hurricane against Trump in 2016. So when it comes to Trump getting competent counsel, Dershowitz may be right, he’s going to be limited. But whoever Trump gets to represent him, he’s not going down without a fight, despite plans to run for president in 2024.
Deshowitz was asked what it was like representing Trump at Jan. 6, 2021 impeachment trial. Telling another attorney after the trial ended he was blacklisted, another attorney said, “ I’m not going near this with a 10-foot pole.” As legal woes mount for Trump, he’s going to be fighting for his survival, not thinking about seeking another four years in the White House. Former Hillary Clinton Chief Legal Counsel Mark Elias said with all Trump legal problems, it will make it impossible to run again for president. Trump’s legal problems are like death by a thousand cuts. When it comes the raid on Mar-a-Lago the government can probably prove he violated the Presidential Records Act, U.S. Code Title 18, Section 270 related to keeping classified documents or the arcane 1917 Espionage Act. DOJ prosecutors can make a convincing case against Trump just on breaching classified files.
Months of hearings by the House Jan. 6 Select Committee have all proved embarrassing to Trump, getting many of his former employees to testify against him, including his own children. Whether they can get anything to stick is anyone’s guess. House Select Committee Chairman Rep. Bernie Thomson (D-Miss.) and Co-Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) believe Trump planned and orchestrated the Jan. 6 insurrection to stop certification of the Electoral College vote. Whether Thomson and Cheney get their way is anyone’s guess. Cheney pledged after losing her primary by a 40% landslide that she’s committed to doing everything possible to prevent Trump from running for president. Cheney destroyed her political career because of her obsession with Trump. Whether Cheney gets he wish or not, Trump’s other legal problems are piling up like New York City garbage day.
Trump’s legal problems continue to mount despite all his denials and attacks on the DOJ and FBI. Trump’s past dealings with the DOJ during his 2016 presidential campaign and his four years as president were fraught to fake charges and endless fraudulent stories about his ties to Russia. It’s no wonder that Trump has no regard for the DOJ and FBI, considering the years of fake charges against him. Former FBI Director James Comey, 62, got away with murder, investigating Trump based on probable cause from former Secretary of State Hillary’s Rodham Clinton’s fake Steele dossier. No one in the Obama White House paid any price for using the nation’s law enforcement and intel agencies to go after Trump to sabotage his 2016 campaign. When it comes to his legal problems now, there’s little anyone can do to save Trump. Trump’s luck is running out, with or without good attorneys.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
