Trump cites Dershowitz in claim that Mueller should not have been appointed

President Trump on Wednesday cited an argument made by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz as evidence for why he thinks special counsel Robert Mueller should not have been appointed.

In a pair of tweets, the president quoted remarks Dershowitz made on Fox News and later expanded upon in an op-ed for The Hill, in which Dershowitz argued that Mueller is performing a “legal colonoscopy” and has overstepped his bounds.

“‘Special Council is told to find crimes, whether a crime exists or not. I was opposed to the selection of Mueller to be Special Council. I am still opposed to it. I think President Trump was right when he said there never should have been a Special Council appointed because there was no probable cause for believing that there was any crime, collusion or otherwise, or obstruction of justice!’ So stated by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz,” Trump wrote, quoting Dershowitz in two tweets.

“Special Council is told to find crimes, whether a crime exists or not. I was opposed to the selection of Mueller to be Special Council. I am still opposed to it. I think President Trump was right when he said there never should have been a Special Council appointed because…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

…there was no probable cause for believing that there was any crime, collusion or otherwise, or obstruction of justice!” So stated by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018

Trump’s tweets came after Dershowitz, a former supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, on Tuesday defended the president on Fox News and claimed Trump was “100 percent right” to oppose the Mueller probe and the existence of a special counsel. But he cautioned Trump on how he should “deal with” the investigation.

“First of all, the president is 100 percent right. There never should have been an appointment of special counsel and there was no probable cause that crimes were committed,” Dershowitz said. “I’ve seen no credible evidence that crimes were committed by the president.”

“The investigation should never have begun. The question is, how does he deal with it? He’s playing good cop, bad cop. He has some lawyers cooperating and some attacking Mueller because he wants to be ready to attack in the event there are recommendations that are negative to the president.”

In an op-ed, Dershowitz later added that the appointment of Mueller was “precisely the wrong way to address this ongoing challenge to our democracy.”

“In this case, the appointment of a special counsel has done more harm than good. It has politicized our justice system beyond repair,” he added in the piece.

Trump criticized Mueller by name for the first time on Twitter over the weekend, raising fears that he is considering firing the special counsel in an attempt to end the investigation into Russian election meddling, including into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

The White House has repeatedly denied that Mueller’s firing is under consideration.