Alan Dershowitz went on Fox News on Tuesday evening to defend President Trump after his longtime attorney and fixer Michael Cohen implicated him in illegal campaign contributions to multiple women.
In an appearance with Tucker Carlson, the Harvard law professor said it was not a major scandal and that everyone violated campaign finance law.
“Violation of election laws are regarded as kind of jaywalking in the realm of things about elections. There are so many of them,” Dershowitz said.
“Every administration violates the election laws. Every candidate violates the election laws when they run for president. Usually, they pay a fine. Something like that happens. Here they are trying to elevate this into an impeachable offense or a felony against the president.”
“Right right,” Carlson said while nodding along.
“They may name the president as an unindicted co-conspirator,” Dershowitz continued. “This is the beginning of a story that will unravel over time. But it is not nearly as deadly lethal as some have portrayed it as being.”
That “some” Dershowitz is referring to was the combined consensus that began to take shape on MSNBC, CNN and the rest of the mainstream media. However, by the end of Tuesday, even reliable Trump defenders were wavering in their support.
“If you cheat on your wife with a porn star and then break campaign finance laws to keep her from telling people about it, you have nobody but yourself to blame,” scolded Daily Caller reporter Peter Hasson.
If you cheat on your wife with a porn star and then break campaign finance laws to keep her from telling people about it, you have nobody but yourself to blame
“There is no universe that exists under which all the MAGA-folks wouldn’t be calling for Hillary’s impeachment or resignation under similar facts. So take that into account when you read their defenses,” noted National Review writer David French.
There is no universe that exists under which all the MAGA-folks wouldn’t be calling for Hillary’s impeachment or resignation under similar facts. So take that into account when you read their defenses.
On Tuesday, Cohen — who once said he would take a bullet for Trump — implicated the president in making payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in order to silence both women from speaking about affairs they say they had with him. Trump has consistently denied the accusations.
On the same day, Trump’s former presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of fraud charges stemming from his time as a political consultant in Eastern Europe. The fate of both men suggests that the original special counsel probe intended to investigation Russian collusion in the 2016 campaign has widened to become an examination of the actions of the president and his closest associates.
Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)
Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women
Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate
Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers
Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
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Sam Seder
Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb
Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro
In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein
In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn
Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
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Cheri Jacobus
Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black
Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon
Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online
Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.