Well-known lawyer Alan Dershowitz calls Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s lawsuit against Donald Trump a ‘political stunt’ with ‘staggering implications’.
Talk to Newsmax in a video shared on Twitter on Saturday, Dershowitz likens the lawsuit to ‘suing God for writing the Bible’.
“This is definitely a political stunt, the implications of which are astonishing. It means you can sue Black Lives Matter for any violence arising from their platform,” he said.
“I think the final implication is that you can sue God because he wrote the Bible, because the Bible led to the Crusades and other violence. And you can sue Imams because they gave speeches in churches and in mosques and synagogues,” he added.
Dershowitz’s comments come after Swalwell, a California congressman, filed a lawsuit against Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Congressman Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Friday for inciting the January 6 riots at the American Capitol.
The civil lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, DC, accusing Trump and his allies of ‘inciting an attack on the Capitol that terrorizes lawmakers and prevents us from doing our job to validate the voices of the American people. .
In the case, Swalwell claims that Trump, Trump Jr., Giuliani and Brooks incited the violent siege with their repeated allegations of voter fraud, their encouragement for supporters to come to DC on January 6, and through their speeches that day.
“Trump directly incited the violence at the subsequent Capitol and then approvingly watched the building being raided,” the lawsuit reads. “The horrific events of January 6 were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the unlawful conduct of the accused. As such, the accused are responsible for the injury and destruction that followed.”
The January 6 violence – which killed five people and injured several others – eventually led to Trump’s indictment by the House of Representatives. Swalwell was one of the House accusation managers protesting against the former president.
But Trump was finally acquitted by the Senate on February 13, with seven Republicans joining the Democrats to convict him.
Swalwell’s lawsuit comes after a similar motion was filed last month by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson alleging that Trump incited the assault in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, a law from the reconstruction era that interfered with prohibits the constitutional duties of Congress.
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In the interview with Newsmax, Dershowitz said Swalwell’s lawsuit was just ‘political theater’ that would not get past a motion.
“This case will be thrown out on the basis of the first amendment. It should not get past the motion. It is just political theater, but it jeopardizes our first amendment just to file the lawsuit,” he says.
In response to the lawsuit, Trump adviser Jason Miller said Swalwell has “no credibility” and is attacking Trump with “another witch hunt”, according to the Associated Press.
Similarly, a comment from Brooks was shared with Newsweek Swalwell’s lawsuit on Friday called for a ‘deserving ploy’.
“Swalwell, or any other socialist, will not stop me from fighting for America under any circumstances,” Brooks said.
Newsweek Trump and Swalwell contacted for additional comment but did not hear in time for publication.