Fox News guest: Alan Dershowitz's argument about virtually unlimited executive power was “very good” and “persuasive”
Jim Trusty: “I think it's a very nuanced argument, it's a very good argument”
Published
Citation
From the January 30, 2020, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:
(VIDEO BEGINS)
ALAN DERSHOWITZ (TRUMP'S LEGAL TEAM): Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest. [...] And if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.
(VIDEO ENDS)
SANDRA SMITH (ANCHOR): All right, well that was President Trump's attorney, Alan Dershowitz, yesterday arguing quid pro quos to win elections are not impeachable, even if the president stood to benefit on the political front. Jim Trusty is a former Justice Department prosecutor, and joins us now. Jim, good morning to you. Is that type of quid pro quo impeachable or not?
JIM TRUSTY (FORMER DOJ PROSECUTOR): Well, we're going to find out if it's removable. But look, I think it's a very nuanced argument, it's a very good argument, and it really goes to the point that mixed motivation shouldn't be criminalized. If you've got a situation where an executive is doing what's right for the country, but also knows they stand to benefit by something working out politically, that shouldn't be the stuff of criminal intent or of impeachment. So, I think it's a pretty persuasive argument, actually, a very nuanced one and one the Wall Street Journal was kind of picking up on in an editorial before that.