Legal icon Alan Dershowitz says a kind of “sexual McCarthyism” displayed during the Supreme Court nomination process of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has set a “terrible precedent.”

The Harvard Law professor emeritus told “Fox & Friends” Friday that while Judge Kavanaugh would not be his pick for the high court if he were in President Trump’s shoes, he is dismayed with the kind of criticism directed at the judge.

Democrats claim that allegations of attempted rape by college professor Christine Blasey Ford should terminate the judge as a viable choice for the high court.

None of the individuals cited by Ms. Blasey Ford as witnesses to the alleged incident have corroborated her claims.

“The question is now all about whether we allow a nominee to be discredited without hard proof, hard evidence, and whether or not this established as a precedent for the future where nobody is going to want to serve on the bench,” Mr. Dershowitz said. “The idea that he can’t teach in Harvard now because he was suspected? When I was growing up in Brooklyn colleges as a student they fired professors because they were ‘suspected’ of maybe being communists when they were in their 20s. Suspicion was enough. This kind of sexual McCarthyism is a terrible, terrible precedent.”

Mr. Dershowitz said that allegations of sexual assault should be taken seriously, but citizens and lawmakers should also acknowledge that witnesses sometimes lie or make up stories “out of whole cloth.”

“We have to look into all of these issues,” he said.

Senators kept the process moving forward on Friday by overcoming a Democrat-led filibuster.

A full confirmation vote for Judge Kavanaugh is scheduled for Saturday.

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