Alan Dershowitz: Backing Donald Trump has been worse than defending O.J. Simpson

Ryan W. Miller | USA TODAY

Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said backing President Donald Trump in certain cases has been harder than defending O.J. Simpson and other celebrity clients, according to an interview with The New York Times.

When asked, "Is this actually worse than when you defended O.J. Simpson?" of his defense of the president, Dershowitz replied:

"Of course. Or Claus von Bulow or Leona Helmsley or Michael Milken or Mike Tyson. This is much worse than all that."

Dershowitz continued, "In those cases people were critical of me, but they were prepared to discuss it. They were prepared to have a dialogue. Here, the people that I’m objecting to want to stop the dialogue. They don’t want to have the conversation."

Dershowitz was an appellate adviser to O.J. Simpson during his murder trial and also defended Claus von Bulow.

The attorney's response comes amid recent media buzz over a column he wrote last month for The Hill in which he compared his social shunning at Martha's Vineyard to 1950s McCarthyism.

While Dershowitz has been critical of Trump and many of his policies, he wrote that he defends the president's "civil liberties." In turn, Dershowitz said he's been ostracized in social circles for sometimes backing the president.

"(My old friends) are shunning me and trying to ban me from their social life on Martha’s Vineyard," Dershowitz wrote in The Hill. "I never thought I would see McCarthyism come to Martha’s Vineyard, but I have."

Dershowitz explained that at least one friend has said he won't attend parties if Dershowitz were invited.

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Dershowitz has argued that Trump had the constitutional authority to fire former FBI director James Comey and therefore should not be charged with obstruction of justice. He added that an independent, non-partisan commission, rather than a special counsel, should have been appointed to investigate Russia's influence in the 2016 presidential election.

Dershowitz told the New York Times in an interview published Saturday that he's been calling for Trump "to be treated fairly. Not to have it considered a crime when you fire, when you exercise your Article II powers under the Constitution."

The Harvard lawyer has also said he'd have defended Hillary Clinton similarly if she were elected, and he wrote a book defending former president Bill Clinton during his impeachment scandal. Dershowitz's book "The Case Against Impeaching Trump" is set to publish Monday.

"I’m a Hillary Clinton liberal Democrat who’s trying hard to restore Congress to the Democrats, who will help finance Democratic candidates all over the country," Dershowitz told The Times. "I’m a liberal Democrat. I haven’t changed one iota in 50 years. I am not a Trump supporter. I’m a supporter of civil liberties. Calling me a Trump supporter is like calling me a communist supporter in the 1950s."

Among the Trump practices Dershowitz has opposed is the "zero tolerance" policy on immigration that resulted in children separated from their parents.

Despite the backlash Dershowitz has received over his defense of Trump, he told The Times he's enjoyed the debate he's sparked.

"I’m a teacher and a professor. My job is to provoke and stimulate conversation," he said. "I’m enjoying this. So understand that. For me, it’s a red badge of courage."

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