Dershowitz says talks to use 25th Amendment to oust Trump could amount to ‘unconstitutional coup’

Attorney Alan Dershowitz on Wednesday said it would be “tantamount to an unconstitutional coup” if it’s confirmed that intelligence officials discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.

“If in fact it’s confirmed — and there will be hearings on this — then it is tantamount to an unconstitutional coup,” Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor and contributor to The Hill, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.” 

“The 25th Amendment was designed for Woodrow Wilson having a stroke, President Reagan being shot and incapacitated for some days,” he continued. 

“It involves the inability, not the unwillingness, but the inability of a president to perform his duties and functions, and even as Rod Rosenstein later confirmed, there’s no case for removing this president under the 25th Amendment,” he said. “Any law enforcement official who seriously considered wearing a wire … I think their credibility as a law enforcement official is highly questionable.”

Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe revealed last week that senior officials discussed the possibility of removing Trump from office via the 25th Amendment, and that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein offered to secretly record his conversations with the president by wearing a wire. 

McCabe on Tuesday said that he believes it’s possible that Trump could be working on behalf of the Russian government. 

“As far as the investigation is concerned, look, nobody’s above the law. You’re entitled to investigate anybody,” Dershowitz said. “So I have no quarrel with, if they think he did something wrong, conducting an investigation, and if they find grounds for that, opening an impeachment process.” 

“It’s the 25th Amendment that should disturb every American because it wasn’t intended for this kind of conduct,” he continued. “It reminds me of the television show ‘House of Cards,’ where they invoke the 25th Amendment to make for an interesting series, but in real life the 25th Amendment is completely inapplicable.” 

— Julia Manchester 


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