Alan Dershowitz: ‘Obama Was Not Motivated By What Was Good For America’

Alan Dershowitz in 2012. Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman December 6, 2017

Alan Dershowitz criticized the Mueller investigation and argued that there’s no way Donald Trump could have obstructed justice in a recent interview with Slate.

Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor and a prominent conservative sparring partner on cable news, argued that because Trump is the president, he can fire whoever he wants.

Though Dershowitz said that Trump’s behavior in firing FBI director James Comey could make him worthy of impeachment, he said it was not illegal.

Dershowitz also compared former Trump adviser Mike Flynn’s lie to the FBI to Obama’s instruction for the U.S. to abstain on a UN resolution instead of veto it, saying both actions were political ploys. Flynn recently pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of the ongoing Mueller investigation.

“What if I can prove to you, and I think I can, that President Obama was not motivated by what was good for America or what was good for world peace?” Dershowitz said. “He was motivated by anger, frustration, and pique at Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Dershowitz also criticized the Mueller investigation, saying it should have been an independent investigation, similar to the 9/11 commission.

“My opposition is institutional, not personal,” he said.

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at feldman@forward.com. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO