Trump Levels Fox News Analyst Judge Napolitano
President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at Fox News commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano after he accused Trump of obstructing justice in relation to the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.
“Thank you to brilliant and highly respected attorney Alan Dershowitz for destroying the very dumb legal argument of ‘Judge’ Andrew Napolitano … Ever since Andrew came to my office to ask that I appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I said NO, he has been very hostile! Also asked for pardon for his friend. A good ‘pal’ of low ratings Shepard Smith,” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.
Thank you to brilliant and highly respected attorney Alan Dershowitz for destroying the very dumb legal argument of “Judge” Andrew Napolitano….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2019
….Ever since Andrew came to my office to ask that I appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I said NO, he has been very hostile! Also asked for pardon for his friend. A good “pal” of low ratings Shepard Smith.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2019
Smith is a Fox News anchor who has often criticized Trump.
Trump did not say who Napolitano allegedly wanted on the Supreme Court or reveal the name of the person for whom Napolitano wanted a pardon.
During his show last week, Napolitano sided with Trump’s opponents on the issue of whether Trump obstructed justice.
“When the president asked his then-White House counsel to get Mueller fired and then lie about it, that’s obstruction of justice. When he asked Don McGahn to go back to the special counsel and change his testimony, that’s obstruction of justice. When he dangled a pardon in front of [ex-attorney] Michael Cohen in order to keep Cohen from testifying, that’s obstruction of justice,” Napolitano said on his show.
Napolitano added to those comments in a follow-up Op-Ed published by Fox News on Friday.
“The president’s job is to enforce federal law. If he had ordered its violation to save innocent life or preserve human freedom, he would have a moral defense. But ordering obstruction to save himself from the consequences of his own behavior is unlawful, defenseless and condemnable,” Napolitano wrote.
Napolitano characterized the Mueller report in harsh, anti-Trump terms.
“That report concluded that notwithstanding 127 confirmed communications between the campaign and Russians from July 2015 to November 2016 (Trump said there were none), the government could not prove the existence of a conspiracy,” he wrote.
“On obstruction, the report concluded that notwithstanding numerous obstructive events engaged in by the president personally, the special counsel would not charge the president and would leave the resolution of obstruction of justice to Congress,” he added.
Napolitano said the issue was not whether Trump obstructed justice, but whether he could be charged with the crime.
Although Napolitano said Congress has the option of trying to impeach Trump for obstructing justice, he noted that it was a risk. House Democrats “know from history that impeachment only succeeds if there is a broad, national, bipartisan consensus behind it, no matter the weight of the evidence or presence of sophisticated legal theories,” he wrote.
On Saturday, Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor emeritus, said he did not agree with Napolitano’s interpretation.
“The act itself has to be illegal. It can’t be an act that’s authorized under Article Two of the Constitution,” Dershowitz said.
“It can’t be obstruction of justice if the president is acting within his authority.”
Dershowitz did, however, agree with Napolitano that impeachment is a huge political risk for Congressional Democrats.
“It’s gonna come back to hurt the Democrats,” he said Saturday.
“I’m a Democrat. I’m a liberal. I want to see the Constitution complied with. I want to see the Democrats do the right thing.”
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