[Erin Burnett] New comment on Alan Dershowitz slammed present-day scholars for c....

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University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade called Dershowitz's logic "absurd" and said, "If the Senate is to maintain any semblance of a check on presidential abuse, surely it must reject this argument."

Former White House counsel John Dean said that by Dershowitz's logic former President Richard Nixon would not have been subject to impeachment for the Watergate break-in. But Dershowitz, who has argued impeachment requires a criminal act, did say "the only thing that would make a quid pro quo unlawful is if the quo were, in some way, illegal."

"Alan Dershowitz unimpeached Richard Nixon today. All Nixon was doing was obstructing justice and abusing power because he thought he was the best person for the USA to be POTUS," Dean said in a tweet.

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, also invoked Nixon in a tweet criticizing Dershowitz.

"Richard Nixon once made this argument: 'When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.' He was forced to resign in disgrace. In America, no one is above the law," she said.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., told MSNBC Dershowitz's claim "sounds like something coming out of North Korea, not Pennsylvania Avenue."

"Dear @CongressEthics: Can I have my staff pressure a foreign government to help my re-election campaign because it's in the public interest that I get re-elected? Just kidding," quipped Rep, Ted Lieu, D-Calif. "Unlike @realDonaldTrump & crazy @AlanDersh, I follow federal law."

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., defended Dershowitz and said the "the left," and some members of the news media, "blatantly misconstrue" his argument.

"He's never argued that the POTUS has absolute immunity," Biggs said in a tweet. "He's challenging the amorphous charge of Abuse of Power. Huge difference."

The second of the two days scheduled for questions and answers in the Senate impeachment trial opens Thursday afternoon.

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Posted by Erin Burnett to Erin Burnett at January 30, 2020 at 9:43 AM