Revelations about the 2016 and 2020 elections, including special counsel John Durham's report and the letter signed by 51 former intelligence professionals concerning Hunter Biden's laptop, show a pattern of how the "get Trump derangement syndrome" has affected "decent people" in the U.S. government's intelligence community, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz tells Newsmax.
"I know people who signed that letter," Dershowitz said on Newsmax's "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" Monday. "They are decent people, but they honestly believe that [Donald] Trump was Adolf Hitler and that they would do everything in their power to make sure he didn't become president, and then to make sure he didn't get reelected."
Monday, Durham released the results of his yearslong investigation, revealing findings that the FBI did not have "actual" evidence to investigate Trump in connection with allegations that Russia interfered with the 2016 election.
The results came after other reports that former acting CIA Director Mike Morell had spearheaded a letter in 2020, just before the election, that included 50 other intelligence professionals claiming the findings on the Hunter Biden laptop were spurred by Russia disinformation.
"I know friends have told me that when you mention the word Trump, their thinking is distorted and their ethics disappear," Dershowitz said. "They become anti-civil libertarian and the ends justify the means.
"I think the Durham report demonstrates that from the very beginning, these people were prepared to distort the facts and the law for partisan political purposes for what they thought was a legitimate goal, to get Trump."
Van Susteren, though, argued that those involved were "trying to lie to the American people" and that they were "trying to interfere with democracy. There are other ways to beat Trump than to do [this]."
"The thing is that these are good people who have done bad things, and there's no excuse for it," said Dershowitz. "And you ought to go after them, and I've been going after them, and I've lost friends for going after them.
"You cannot justify this kind of distortion of the law in order to get Trump to make sure he doesn't win."
But, he added, "these people genuinely believe you can look them in the eye and they will tell you they did it for a higher purpose."
Still, "these people did a terrible thing," Dershowitz said. "They are destroying the Constitution … they must not be let off the hook."
He further told Van Susteren that he hopes Congress will call those involved in, and said he's "glad as a Democrat" that the House is controlled by Republicans.
"It keeps our system of checks and balances going," said Dershowitz.
They ought to be looking into this record," he added. "They ought to be looking into the Durham report … these structural constitutional issues are far more important than winning an election."
Dershowitz added that it was up to him, the people who signed the Hunter Biden letter would lose their security clearances.
"I would make sure that never again are any of them in positions of power or responsibility where they have to protect the national security of the United States and put that before partisan interests," said Dershowitz. "These people have demonstrated an unwillingness and inability to put the law before partisan politics and that disqualifies them."
Still, an investigation can't stop any of them from seeking public office, "just like you can't stop Donald Trump from running, but you can stop them from being appointed and being confirmed to high office. You can at least subject them to very hard questioning."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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