宪法学者、唐纳德·特朗普法律团队成员艾伦·德肖维茨(Alan Dershowitz)周日辩称，众议院上月通过的弹劾条款不应导致总统被免职，因为它们支持“两项非刑事诉讼”
这位退休的哈佛法学教授在美国有线电视新闻网的节目中也提出了类似的观点联盟状况《美国广播公司新闻》本周星期天。德绍维茨澄清说，他不是特朗普法律团队的正式成员，但计划在参议院审判期间为总统辩护。他认为，即使总统做了弹劾条款中规定的所有事情，这也不应该导致他被免职。
德绍维茨在接受美国有线电视新闻网采访时说:“我在参议院提出了可能是最重要的论点，即即使众议院经理所指控的一切都得到证实，假设是真的，他们也不会上升到可弹劾的犯罪水平。”。
律师解释说，他没有参与总统的“日常”辩护策略。然而，在他看来，他是提出“宪法问题”团队的一员。
在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时，他说:“国会弹劾这两篇文章是错误的。”
“它们不是弹劾条款。弹劾条款是两项非刑事诉讼，”他断言。
“如果总统的行为不符合宪法的标准，你不能指控他有可弹劾的行为，”律师说。他解释说，在他看来，宪法只允许对明显的犯罪行为进行弹劾。
长期公开为特朗普辩护的德绍维茨被透露将于周五加入特朗普的法律团队参加参议院审判。此外，肯·斯塔尔——在比尔·克林顿总统被弹劾并最终在1999年被参议院宣判无罪之前，曾担任独立顾问调查当时的总统——已经加入特朗普的法律团队。
特朗普去年12月被民主党控制的众议院正式弹劾，成为历史上第三位被正式指控犯有“重罪和轻罪”的总统投票几乎完全按照党派路线通过，没有共和党人投票弹劾总统。少数民主党人投票反对弹劾条款或投票出席，密歇根州的保守派代表贾斯汀·阿玛什(Justin Amash)投票赞成这些措施，他被选为共和党人，但在去年7月宣布独立。
艾伦·德肖维茨12月11日在华盛顿特区白宫东厅聆听唐纳德·特朗普总统的讲话
此案现已提交参议院，目前由共和党控制。由于总统的免职需要三分之二多数票，大多数分析师认为特朗普被参议院定罪的可能性极小。成功的罢免投票需要每个民主党人、参议院的两名独立议员和至少20名共和党人对总统采取反对立场。
特朗普被弹劾了两篇文章，第一篇是“滥用权力”，第二篇是“阻挠国会”总统被指控对乌克兰进行压力运动，宣布他希望会损害其政治对手的调查。他和他的私人律师鲁迪·朱利安尼一再敦促乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基宣布调查毫无根据的指控，即前副总统乔·拜登在乌克兰的行为腐败，为他儿子亨特在那里的生意谋利，并调查一个被揭穿的阴谋论，即民主党人与乌克兰人协调干预2016年总统选举。
多名特朗普政府官员还作证称，压力运动涉及“交换条件”。众所周知，总统拒绝向乌克兰提供军事援助，以及白宫与泽兰斯基的会晤，因为他敦促公开宣布调查结果。但特朗普坚称自己没有做错什么，整个弹劾都是“党派”的攻击。
ALAN DERSHOWITZ INSISTS TRUMP SHOULDN'T BE REMOVED, EVEN IF HE COMMITTED ALL THE ACTIONS DEMOCRATS CLAIM
Alan Dershowitz, a constitutional scholar and member of Donald Trump's legal team, argued on Sunday that the Articles of Impeachment passed by the House of Representatives last month should not lead to the president's removal, because they were for "two non-criminal actions."
The retired Harvard law professor made similar arguments in appearances on CNN's State of the Union and ABC News' This Week on Sunday. Dershowitz clarified that he is not a full member of Trump's legal team, but plans to make an "important argument" defending the president during his Senate trial. He argued that even if the president did all the things laid out in the Articles of Impeachment, this should not lead to his removal.
"I'm making what could be the most important argument on the floor of the Senate, namely that even if everything that is alleged by the House managers is proven, assuming it's true, they would not rise to the level of an impeachable offense," Dershowitz said during his CNN interview.
The lawyer explained that he was not involved in the "day to day" defense strategy of the president. However, he was part of the team to present "the constitutional issue" as he sees it.
Speaking to ABC News, he said: "Congress was wrong in impeaching for these two articles."
"They are not articles of impeachment. The articles of impeachment are two non-criminal actions," he asserted.
"You can't charge a president with impeachable conduct if it doesn't fit within the criteria for the Constitution," the lawyer said. He explained, that in his view, the Constitution only allowed for impeachment for explicitly criminal behavior.
Dershowitz, who has long defended Trump publicly, was revealed to be joining Trump's legal team for the Senate trial on Friday. Additionally, Ken Starr--who worked as independent counsel to investigate then-President Bill Clinton ahead of his impeachment and eventual acquittal in the Senate in 1999--has joined Trump's legal team.
Trump was formally impeached by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives in December, becoming only the third president in history to be formally indicted for "high crimes and misdemeanors." The vote passed almost entirely along party lines, with no Republicans voting to impeach the president. While a few Democrats voted against the articles of impeachment or voted present, conservative Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, who was elected as a Republican but then declared his independence last July, voted in favor of the measures.
Alan Dershowitz listens to President Donald Trump speak in the East Room of the White House on December 11 in Washington, D.C.
The case has now moved to the Senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans. As the president's removal requires a two-thirds majority vote, most analysts believe it is highly improbable that Trump will be convicted by the Senate. A successful removal vote would require every Democrat, the Senate's two independents and at least 20 Republicans to take a stand against the president.
Trump was impeached with two articles, the first for "Abuse of Power" and the second for "Obstruction of Congress." The president is accused of carrying out a pressure campaign against Ukraine to announce investigations that he hoped would damage his political rivals. He and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani repeatedly urged Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce probes into unfounded claims that former Vice President Joe Biden acted corruptly in Ukraine to benefit his son Hunter's business there--as well as into a debunked conspiracy theory that Democrats coordinated with Ukrianians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Multiple Trump administration officials also testified that there was a "quid pro quo" involved with the pressure campaign. The president was known to be withholding military aid to Ukraine, as well as a White House meeting with Zelensky, as he pushed for the investigations to be announced publicly. But Trump has insisted that he did nothing wrong, and that the entire impeachment is a "partisan" attack.
