Newsmax TV put Alan Dershowitz on to explain what Donald Trump's impeachment lawyers were doing. There's just one problem: Dershowitz had no clue what they were trying to do, particularly Bruce Castor, who presented himself as a good old boy who just loved the Constitution, Mom and apple pie.
During Castor's arguments, he conceded that Trump lost the election and Biden won, citing that fact as part of the reason that Trump couldn't be tried by the Senate after he left office.
Dershowitz was unimpressed.
“There is no argument,” Dershowitz told Newsmax anchors somewhat ruefully. “I have no idea why he’s saying what he’s saying. You know, he’s introducing himself: ‘I’m a nice guy. I like my senators. I know my senators. Senators are great people.’"
"Come on. The American people are entitled to an argument, a constitutional argument,” he groused.
On Twitter, there were many tweets like this one:
Perhaps passing the bar wasn't as big a deal as I once thought it was.
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) February 9, 2021
Interesting, by the way, that Dershowitz is now over on Newsmax TV. Is he persona non grata on Fox News or is he just boycotting them along with his orange friend?
“This, just — after all kinds of very strong presentations on the part of the House [impeachment] managers … you know, you get up there and you respond,” he stressed. “We know that hard cases make bad law. I probably would’ve started with that. This is a hard case, an emotional case."
“I just don’t understand it. Maybe he’ll bring it home. But right now, it does not appear to me to be effective advocacy," he wrapped up.
In fairness, there is no case, and these guys were brought in at the last minute to pretend to argue some things which aren't Trump's conspiracy theories but which are still acceptable to him. It's a tough gig and it seemed to me that they basically filled time to put a de facto defense on.
In the end, they not only didn't convince the 5 Republicans who voted to proceed last time, but they also lost Senator Bill Cassidy who joined the Democrats to vote that the impeachment trial can proceed, leaving the final count at 56-44.
