Dershowitz: president can't be impeached for an act he thinks will help his reelection

William Cummings
USA TODAY Published 8:35 a.m. ET Jan. 30, 2020
Updated 12:50 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2020

... In response to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about whether it mattered if Trump engaged in a "quid pro quo," Dershowitz said that motive was what mattered and that if an act was in the public interest, it was not impeachable. And he said it was reasonable for a public official to equate what is in their own political interest with the public good.

"Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest," he said. "And if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment" ...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/30/alan-dershowitz-controversial-trump-impeachment-argument/4618461002/

"Yes, I arrested just enough of my opponents right before the election in key states to ensure that I carried those states and won the Electoral College. But I was convinced that was in the national interest: I only did it to make sure I was re-elected! "