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arvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz says that the Jan. 6 committee’s criminal referral to the Justice Department against former President Donald Trump is unconstitutional and violates separation of powers.
During the Jan 6. final committee hearing Monday, the panel unanimously made four criminal referrals against former President Trump.
“In my view, it’s clearly unconstitutional,” Dershowitz said on Monday’s edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “Article One limits the power of Congress through legislative actions. This is not a legislative action — naming a specific individual and referring them to the Justice Department. It’s not legislative and it tramples on the authority of the executive branch.”
“The 14th Amendment provides one specific time when Congress may in fact, act against an individual,” he later continued. “That is if the person was engaged in an insurrection or rebellion, like in the Civil War, and they didn’t act under that provision.”
Dershowitz said that he believes that the Justice Department will accept these referrals and will most likely ignore them.
