Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Trump’s defense team, said on Thursday that his arguments during the Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday were “willfully distorted” by the media. “They characterized my argument as if I had said that if a president believes that his re-election was in the national interest, he can do anything,” Dershowitz tweeted on Thursday. “I said nothing like that, as anyone who actually heard what I said can attest.” Dershowitz came under intense scrutiny after he asserted during the first day of questions and answers in the trial that if President Trump believes his own re-election is in the public interest and “does something that he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” “Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest,” Dershowitz added. His comments came after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked him whether it mattered if Trump was engaged in a “quid pro quo.” 

Dershowitz said in a separate tweet, “Anyone watching my answer would know that it was in response to the manager’s claim that any electoral benefit would constitute an impeachable quid pro quo,” adding, “I pointed out how open ended that argument is because politicians honestly believe that their reelection helps the national interest.” He said that he argued on Wednesday that “seeking help in an election is not necessarily corrupt.”