Update, 3:24 p.m.: Dershowitz said that he’s not really a “full-fledged” member of the president’s legal team, but will be making a constitutional argument that is favorable to President Trump.
“I think it overstates it to say I’m a member of the Trump team. I was asked to present the constitutional argument that I would have presented had Hillary Clinton been elected and had she been impeached,” Dershowitz told Law&Crime founder Dan Abrams on Friday. “I will be there for one hour, basically, presenting my argument. But I’m not a full-fledged member of the defense team in any realistic sense of that term.”
Some say this is a distinction without a difference.
What does it mean for a lawyer to argue on behalf of a client at trial but not be a “member” of his team?
It’s hard to make any sense of Dershowitz’s assertion. https://t.co/QFcqiP9Urb
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January 17, 2020
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Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr are joining President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team, a team that already included White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow.
Team will also include Dershowitz. Statement from a team spokesman:
“Professor Dershowitz will present oral arguments at the Senate trial to address the constitutional arguments against impeachment and removal.” 1/— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 17, 2020
“He is participating in this impeachment trial to defend the integrity of the Constitution and to prevent the creation of a dangerous constitutional precedent.” 3/3 on Dershowitz
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 17, 2020
Robert Ray, a former Whitewater prosecutor, is also joining the defense team. All three lawyers have appeared on Fox News in recent days and defended the president.
Starr and Dershowitz have been on a defense team together before. They, and numerous other star attorneys, were part of a team that secured an infamous plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein in the 2000s.
It is believed that this trio will be the face of Trump’s impeachment team on the floor of the Senate. Dershowitz, a statement from his team said, is “participating in this impeachment trial to defend the integrity of the Constitution and to prevent the creation of a dangerous constitutional precedent.”
But wait — there’s more.
Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who now works in the White House, will also be presenting on Trump's behalf, per senior admin official.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 17, 2020
The House voted to pass two articles of impeachment in December: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Those articles were formally transmitted to the Senate this week. Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts and the entire Senate have all sworn an oath to do “impartial justice.”
[Image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
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