Famed constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz has gamed out how he expects Jack Smith’s case Jan. 6 case against former President Donald Trump will play out after he filed charges against him on Tuesday.
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Following the indictment, Fox News reported: “This is the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.”
Trump is facing multiple charges in that ongoing probe, which include alleged willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Furthermore, Smith filed three additional counts through a superseding indictment as part of the same investigation last week.
In an interview on Fox News Tuesday evening, Dershowitz laid out how he thinks the Jan. 6 case against Trump will play out and what, in his view, must happen next.
“I think he [Trump] may lose in the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, but I think he will probably win in the United States Supreme Court if they grant review,” he said.
Dershowitz opined that the Supreme Court “should grant review. When you have the president of the United States and his people going after his opponent in a political election, it has to be beyond reproach — it has to be without any problems, it has to be the strongest case in history. This does not meet that standard.”
Alan Dershowitz says Trump conviction will be overturned by the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/qeo1YN8JVg
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In Dershowitz’s opinion, all the former president needs to prove is that “he understood and believed – whether he was right or wrong – [that the election was stolen or rigged against him].”
He added that the trial beginning in DC is “not certain,” going on to opine that Trump’s attorneys will file a motion to move the venue to “northern Virginia where the jury pool will be fairer…and you could move it further to southern Virginia where it [the jury pool] is much more even [handed] and you can move it to an adjoining state.”
He also said Trump’s legal team also will move “to dismiss the indictment on First Amendment grounds, moving for a change of venue, they will probably argue some form of selective prosecution, but the key point is that the prosecution must convince the jury of Trump’s subjective belief and people who know Trump say he really believed it [that the election was stolen].”