Constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley pushed back against critics of President Trump, who argue he is criminally liable for coronavirus deaths.

“The argument that Trump may be criminally liable for his handling of the pandemic is wildly disconnected from the controlling law,” Turley wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “It is only the latest of a long line of distortions of the criminal code that would make prosecution an extension of politics.”

Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, was reacting to an opinion piece published by Newsweek with the headline “Could Trump Be Criminally Liable for His Deadly Mishandling of Coronavirus?"

The argument that Trump may be criminally liable for his handling of the pandemic is wildly disconnected from the controlling law. It is only the latest of a long line of distortions of the criminal code that would make prosecution an extension of politics https://t.co/aPQXq6Cpdr — Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 18, 2020

Turley was the legal witness Republicans called upon during Trump's impeachment hearings in the House. Turley argued that the charges brought against Trump did not amount to a high crime or misdemeanor. More recently, he condemned the media for its "unrelentingly negative spin" of Trump's coronavirus response.

The president’s critics argue the Trump administration was too slow in preparing for the onslaught of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Can we talk about 1 of the few topics I may actually know too much about: homicide?” MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said in mid-March. “Specifically, whether Donald Trump may have criminal exposure for some level of negligent homicide or voluntary/involuntary manslaughter for the way he’s mishandled the Coronavirus crisis.”

Former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice echoed Kirschner’s sentiment earlier this month, blaming Trump’s leadership for the lives lost from the virus.

“I really hope the president does not declare prematurely 'mission accomplished' and try to celebrate his success when we already lost more than 23,000 lives in barely two months,” Rice said to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “Lives that, many of which, necessarily did not need to be lost. And our economy is in the tank? It is a very, very tragic situation that could have been lessened with responsible and effective leadership. Sadly, that is not what we have at the moment.”

A lengthy report by the New York Times published last weekend described weeks of warnings about the virus, which originated in China late last year, that Trump did not act on aggressively until mid-March beyond limiting travel from China.

The Trump administration has urged U.S. citizens to practice distancing guidelines, which have been extended to April 30, and states across the country have implemented stay-at-home orders to contend with the rapid spread of the virus. Last week, the president unveiled a plan to encourage governors to reopen their economies, while still maintaining social distancing guidelines put out by his administration.

Worldwide, there have been more than 2.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 160,000 associated deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.