George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley and noted attorney Alan Dershowitz provided takes on President-elect Donald Trump’s legal battles throughout 2024, often having a better idea of what would happen than analysts from corporate media outlets.
Dershowitz and Turley predicted what would happen as Trump faced multiple legal battles, including efforts to throw him off the ballot for the presidential election, a criminal trial in Manhattan during which a jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30 and multiple indictments. Trump was indicted by special counsel Jack Smith on charges based on allegations involving classified documents and efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election, while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also secured an indictment on state charges over Trump’s efforts to contest the results in Georgia in 2020.
Dec. 20, 2023: Alan Dershowitz Predicts Outcome Of Colorado Ballot Case
After the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary election due to the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection” clause, Dershowitz predicted the court’s ruling would be overturned.
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“It’s a scandal. It’s a shame. The justices who wrote this decision ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Dershowitz told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “It’s a purely partisan ploy. And the Supreme Court ought to take this up as soon as possible and get us back to the business of electing presidents based on what the people want, not what partisans want and what they can get partisan judges to enact, which clearly violates the explicit terms of the Constitution itself.”
The Supreme Court eventually ruled unanimously that Colorado did not have the right to remove Trump from the ballot.
Feb. 6, 2024: Turley Says Appeals Court Trying To Force Trump To Give Up A Constitutional Right
After Smith secured the indictment against Trump in the alleged election interference case, Trump claimed immunity from prosecution. After a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit rejected Trump’s claim on immunity, though, Turley noted the panel’s ruling tried to close off one avenue usually available to parties in a case.
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“They really put this poison pill in their order that says that even though you are entitled to go for what’s called en banc review, which is to have the whole court, that would take 45 days. The court said if you don’t file with the Supreme Court on Monday, we’re going to return the mandate to the trial court,” Turley told “Special Report” host Bret Baier.
Trump would eventually appeal directly to the Supreme Court, which would rule that the president was immune from prosecution over official acts.
March 15, 2024: Dershowitz Says Atlanta Trial Judge Failed To Address Fani Willis’ Conflict Of Interest
When a Fulton County judge declined to disqualify Willis after her affair with Nathan Wade became public, Dershowitz said the judge took a “weasely way out.”
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“Everybody knows, everybody knows, that [she] profited from… everybody knows… [Willis] actually committed perjury that she conspired to commit perjury with Nathan Wade and with the other witness. Who are you gonna believe this judge or your lying eyes?” Dershowitz told “National Report” co-hosts Shaun Kraisman and Emma Rechenberg during his March 15 appearance on the show. “We all know there was an actual conflict of interest here. He just doesn’t have the guts to say it and I predicted he wouldn’t have the guts to say it. He has to live in Fulton County. Now he may have said some things that are very critical of her, but still, he should have removed the DA from the case.”
An appeals court disqualified Willis in December, but the Fulton County DA is appealing to the Georgia Supreme Court.
April 24, 2024: Turley Predicts Supreme Court Could Complicate Smith’s Case
As oral arguments in Trump’s immunity case approached, Turley spoke with Fox News host Harris Faulkner about what the high court’s action could do to the timing of the case.
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“I think they’re gonna recognize that a president does need some protection. But keep in mind, if this court comes up with a more nuanced approach, it would still likely have to send this back,” Turley said. “If it does that, it throws a real wrench into the works for special counsel Jack Smith. It would seem almost impossible at that point for him to have a trial before the election and if Trump is reelected, Jack Smith may never see a jury in either of these cases.”
The Supreme Court ruled that Trump had immunity for official acts as president on July 1, with Smith eventually dismissing the case after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
May 21, 2024: Turley Expresses Alarm At Potential Jury Instructions
Near the end of Trump’s trial on charges of falsifying business documents, Turley noted that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors were gaining a potential advantage in one of the more “mundane” aspects of the criminal trial by sidestepping an important protection for defendants to make a conviction more likely.
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“The government is arguing some pretty sweeping positions,” Turley told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “Among them, they are arguing ‘I don’t have to prove willful intent on all of the elements on all of these actions.’ They’re suggesting that things like unlawful means which is really an important term of influencing election can be satisfied by less than the criminal standard and the defense [is], I think, legitimately saying ‘Whoa, you know, you’re going to convict someone on a lower than criminal standard on an important element.’”
The jury convicted Trump on all 34 counts on May 30, after deliberating for less than 12 hours.
July 15, 2024: Dershowitz Predicts Juan Merchan Will Seek To Avoid Tossing Trump Conviction
After Trump’s conviction, Dershowitz noted that Merchan would try to avoid throwing out the jury’s verdict, despite the implications of a 2024 Supreme Court decision.
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“The Supreme Court held in the last week of the term that you need unanimous jury verdicts in order to enhance punishment, in order to do what happened in this case,” Dershowitz said, referencing the court’s 6-3 decision in Erlinger v. United States in June 2024. “Remember, in this case, without unanimous jury verdicts, without a unanimous jury verdict, you had turning a misdemeanor into a felony, changing the statute of limitations and enhancing the punishment, that’s possible, and you didn’t need a unanimous jury verdict for that. You didn’t even need to know which crimes the jurors focused on. You could have had multiple choice: Some jurors focusing on this, some on this, some on the other, some by a vote of seven to five, some by vote of six to six, who knows?”
Merchan is seeking to delay Trump’s sentencing until 2029 after the president-elect leaves office.
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