Megyn Kelly wants to know what happens if Hillary is indicted. Alan Dershowitz turns that on its head.
Megyn Kelly had noted legal scholar Alan Dershowitz on Monday's Kelly File to talk about — what else? — FBI Director James Comey's cryptic letter to Congress on Friday about Hillary Clinton and emails. Kelly asked if Comey did the right thing. "I think he did the right thing by making a statement, I think his statement was wrong," Dershowitz said. "What he should have said is this: 'I don't know what's in these emails, I haven't seen them, the 4th Amendment precludes any of us from looking at them. I'm going to look at them now, but don't infer anything, don't change your vote based on my announcement — it is a technical announcement designed to inform Congress.'" He added that Comey is "a man of great integrity," but he just set a dangerous precedent that could be exploited by "a J. Edgar Hoover in the future."
Kelly turned to a popular Clinton parlor game at Fox News since Friday. "Let's just say she gets indicted, which is a far step away from where we are right now," Kelly said. "It's not going to happen," Dershowitz interjected. "But people are wondering how it would affect the election," Kelly pressed on. "Let's say she wins on Tuesday, and then she gets indicted, can she still be president?" "Yes, but let's turn it around," Dershowitz said. "Let's assume she loses on Tuesday and then on Dec. 1 Comey announces, 'There's nothing in any of these emails, they're simply duplicates.' He becomes the villain of the piece. He should not be having an impact either way."
The Clintons are handling this wrong, too, since criticizing Comey puts "unconscious pressure on him to find something, because if in fact he finds nothing, he'll look terrible," Dershowitz said. "You never benefit from criticizing the director of the FBI." Kelly returned to the indictment speculation, suggesting if Clinton were indicted and convicted before inauguration, Tim Kaine would be president, but if she were convicted afterward, could she pardon herself? "She can't pardon herself, she's not going to be indicted," Dershowitz said. "It's more likely that Trump will be indicted for his Trump University, for his relationships with Russia, for all of that." "He's not going to be indicted for any of that," Kelly said, laughing. "Of course not, that's my point," Dershowitz said. "Neither of them are getting indicted." Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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