Dershowitz: It Wouldn't Be a Crime if Trump Promised to Change Sanctions In Exchange for Putin Helping Him Win

During a debate on Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz argued that collusion is not a crime, and it wouldn’t be a crime if President Trump promised to change sanction laws in exchange for Vladimir Putin helping him win.

Dershowitz said, “It is not a crime to collude with a foreign country. … It’s not a crime for a campaign to try to get dirt on an opponent. I’m going to make the extreme argument to you right here, and you will be surprised by this. Hypothetical case, I’m a law professor, I’m allowed to use hypothetical cases. This didn’t happen, hypothetical case. Candidate Trump calls Vladimir Putin on the phone during the election and says, ‘Vlad, do I got a deal for you. I want to be president of the United States. You want the United States to help you get rid of some statutes that impose sanctions. Here’s the deal: You help me become president of the United States and I’ll help you get the statute changed.’ That would be horrible. It would be awful. If it became public, nobody would vote for the candidate. It’s not a crime. Collusion is not a crime.”

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