During a recent interview on Fox News Radio, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz suggested that Special Counsel Jack Smith could potentially be indicted for denying former President Donald Trump his “Constitutional rights” under the Ku Klux Klan Statute. The Department of Justice is charging Trump for his actions in relation to the January 6th events and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Dershowitz, who previously defended Trump during his first impeachment trial, criticized Smith and the DOJ for the charges, claiming that the indictment is based on lies. He specifically pointed out that the indictment omits key words from Trump’s speech on January 6th, where he allegedly told his supporters to protest peacefully and patriotically.
According to Dershowitz, the broadness of the charges could theoretically lead to Smith himself being indicted for denying Trump his constitutional rights. However, he clarified that he does not believe Smith should be indicted, but rather used this example to highlight the wide scope of the indictment against Trump.
“The indictment is based on lies, and the indictment itself contains a blatant lie by Jack Smith. He describes the speech of January 6th,” Dershowtiz noted. “But he describes the speech in the indictment and deliberately and willfully leaves out the key words of the speech, namely that the president told his people to protest peacefully and patriotically.”
“By leaving out those words. It’s a lie by omission. And under the standards set out in the indictment, you know, Jack Smith could be indicted,” He added. “Theoretically, it’s not going to happen, obviously, under the Ku Klux Klan statute that he says any people who conspire to deny somebody their constitutional rights is guilty of a crime.
That would mean that Jack Smith tried to deny Trump his constitutional rights in this indictment,” he continued. ” I make that point not to argue that Jack Smith should be indicted, of course not. To make the point that the indictment is so broad, so wide, so all encompassing, it could include so much political conduct.”
Dershowitz expressed concerns about the political nature of the charges and how they could potentially encompass a range of political conduct. He believes that the indictment is overly broad and raises questions about the application of the law in this case.
