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Retired Harvard Legal Scholar Dershowitz: Trump Can Legally Run America as President from Prison

Retired Harvard Legal Scholar Dershowitz: Trump Can Legally Run America as President from Prison

Dershowitz

In this March 6, 2019 file photo, attorney Alan Dershowitz leaves Manhattan Federal Court in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)/Former President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Former President Donald Trump alerted his supporters on social media that he would be arrested on March 21. That day has come and passed. Trump is the subject of numerous ongoing investigations but he bet on an impending arrest from a New York City investigation. Trump is still pushing forward in his efforts to regain the White House in 2024.

An investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is looking into Trump’s potential involvement in a 2016 scheme to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to not go public about an affair the two allegedly had. Bragg and his office seem to be nearing a criminal indictment for Trump.

But could Trump still get elected and serve if he is convinced?

Yes, according to retired Harvard legal scholar Alan Dershowitz.

Dershowitz is known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appointed the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law in 1993. He’s also known for taking on some controversial cases. His clients have included Patty Hearst, hotelier Leona Helmsley, disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, Mike Tyson, convicted financier Michael Milken, O.J. Simpson, and Jeffrey Epstein.

Dershowitz was also the one-time impeachment lawyer for Trump, 19FortyFive reported.

During a March 19 interview with the conservative news channel Newsmax, Dershowitz said he considers New York City’s legal system unfair and expects Trump to be indicted and convicted. But also added that Trump can still run for president and even serve in office from prison if convicted, Newsweek reported.

“He will be indicted,” Dershowitz said. “In New York, you can order a ham sandwich. In New York City, you can convict a ham sandwich because the jury pool is so unfair. Even if he’s convicted, he can run for president. He can run for president from prison; he can even serve as president from prison.”

The U.S. The Constitution does not bar convicted felons from pursuing or holding elected office, even the presidency. But, the 14th Amendment does give Congress the power to pass laws that bar individuals who participated in an insurrection against the country from holding office. The argument could be made that Trump incited the Jan. 6 insurrection of the U.S. Capital building.

In this March 6, 2019 file photo, attorney Alan Dershowitz leaves Manhattan Federal Court in New York. Dershowitz, in a lawsuit filed May 26, 2021, in Miami federal court, is suing Netflix for $80 million over his portrayal in the streaming service’s “Filthy Rich” series about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)/Former President Donald Trump waves after announcing he is running for president for the third time at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. At this point during the last presidential election in 2020, more than 15 Democrats had jumped into their party’s open presidential race. But this year, the open Republican field for 2024 still officially remains small, and dominated by Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)