01-30-2020, 05:17 PM
(01-29-2020, 04:43 PM)Duchess Wrote: Did Alan Dershowitz really argue that a presidential quid pro quo aimed at helping one's reelection is not impeachable? Surely I misunderstood.
You did not misunderstand. Dershowitz claimed that as long as the President believes his re-election to be good for the country, the President's abuse of power with regards to re-election is not impeachable.
It's bullshit, of course, in my opinion (and the opinions of all the real constitutional scholars). Dershowitz's attempt to excuse such abuse of power based on the President's supposed intent is not consistent with the founding fathers' intent. If it were, there would be no impeachment article in the Constitution and every abuse of power would be easily brushed aside with no remedy.
Anyway, I've seen/heard some pundits state that Dershowitz's claims are so ridiculous that none of the Republican senators will attempt to use them as justification/cover when voting to acquit. I disagree with the latter -- I fully expect that several Republican senators will cite Dershowitz's claims as cover/justification when they vote to acquit Trump.
Guess we'll find out soon enough.