Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Alan Dershowitz Claims Cohen Plea ‘Not Lethal.’ Not Even Tucker Carlson’s Buying It.

Alan Dershowitz is claiming that the bombshell admission by Michael Cohen that President Trump directed him to pay hush money to two women in the days leading up to the election is not as “deadly as it is being portrayed.”

Appearing on the friendly confines of Fox News, the legal eagle turned Trump mouthpiece opined that pundits are making too much of the fact that Trump’s longtime trusted lawyer implicated the president in a scheme to evade federal campaign laws.

“It’s certainly not as deadly, lethal,” Dershowitz said.

Host Tucker Carlson looked perplexed by Dershowitz’s assessment of the potential problems posed by Cohen’s sworn claim and the likelihood he will spill more dirt to prosecutors.

“It’s certainly difficult to understand,” Carlson offered, perhaps trying to help millions of Trump supporters feel better about the brutal afternoon that including a jury’s finding ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort guilty on tax evasion and fraud charges.

Dershowitz began the discussion by playing down the significance that prosecutors may name Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Cohen case. Cohen says Trump ordered him to pay hush money to a porn star and a Playboy model to keep them quiet about alleged affairs.

The retired Harvard Law professor opined that it would be “very unfair” if prosecutors do that and pooh-poohed the implications of such a move. Without a hint of irony, Dershowitz noted that the same step was taken against Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace to avoid being impeached.

Some political analysts believe such a decision by prosecutors could lead to Congress starting impeachment proceedings against Trump, especially if Democrats retake Congress in the midterm elections.

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.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.