Dershowitz joins Lindell legal team, calls Jan.6 Committee actions ‘great danger’

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Prominent defense attorney Alan Dershowitz has joined the legal team representing MyPillow founder and Minnesota resident Mike Lindell in a civil rights lawsuit against the congressional committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The Jan. 6 Committee wants Verizon to turn over Lindell’s cell phone records between Nov. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021.  Dershowitz says Lindell has a right to see those records to determine whether any of them are confidential, or protected by attorney-client privilege.

“It’s a great danger, particularly when the purpose is not legislative,” Dershowitz said in an interview with KVRR news.  “We just don’t want Verizon to turn this over willy-nilly to a government agency, particularly a congressional committee as loaded and one-sided as this one is.”

“It has to be made clear that under our separation of powers, our checks and balances, Congress has the right to subpoena information, only if that information relates to its lawmaking or supervisory or other constitutionally authorized powers,” Dershowitz said.  “All Americans have the right to be protected against intrusion into their private lives, into their cell phones, into their texts, unless the government can demonstrate a compelling and legitimate reason.”

Dershowitz says he doesn’t share Lindell’s political beliefs, but says he agreed to join the case because Lindell’s constitutional rights need to be protected.

“There’s no question that they’re going after Lindell – not because he’s a Republican – but because he’s a Trump supporter and because he has raised questions, which I, as a liberal Democrat, might disagree with.  But they’re legitimate questions under the First Amendment.  Questions about the legitimacy of the last election. I’m in the case to defend his free speech, not the correctness of his ideas.”

“If this were a subpoena issued to somebody on the left by a Republican committee, comparable to this committee, the ACLU would be jumping up and down. Liberal organizations would be objecting,” Dershowitz added.

Defendants listed on Lindell’s lawsuit, include Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the Jan 6. Committee Chairman.