Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on a heated MSNBC panel Sunday, telling host Kasie Hunt and former Assistant U.S. District Attorney Mimi Rocah not to “accuse” him of defending President Trump.
Dershowitz, who supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, has emerged as a regular voice on television shows defending Trump on legal issues, including special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
He appeared on a panel with Rocah to discuss the latest report that Trump had knowledge about the meeting between his campaign officials, including Donald Trump Jr., and Russians inside Trump Tower in June 2016.
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“You are implying in a kind of McCarthy-ite way that I am somehow defending Trump and that I am making his case,” Dershowitz told Rocah.
“Shame on you,” he added.
Rocah said she was simply responding to his previous arguments in defense of Trump.
Dershowitz, who is an opinion contributor for The Hill, insisted that he was only attempting to protect Trump’s civil liberties.
“I am not part of the Trump defense team and don’t you dare accuse me of doing that,” he said. “I am not making a case for anybody.”
He said would be making the same case in Clinton’s defense if she had been elected and prosecutors were “trying to stretch the law” in the same way that they’re targeting Trump.
“Nobody is stretching the law here,” Hunt interjected.
Rocah added that Dershowitz was defending Trump “in the name of civil liberties.”
Dershowitz has repeatedly said that appointing Mueller to investigate Russia’s interference in the election was a mistake.
Trump on Sunday renewed his accusations on Sunday that Mueller has “conflicts of interest” in the investigation.
The president has praised Dershowitz’s commentary on the probe and urged people to buy his book.
Trump tweeted that Dershowitz is “a brilliant lawyer, who although a Liberal Democrat who probably didn’t vote for me, has discussed the Witch Hunt with great clarity and in a very positive way.”
“He has written a new and very important book called ‘The Case Against Impeaching Trump,’ which I would encourage all people with Trump Derangement Syndrome to read!” Trump continued.