Famed scholar explains his Trump defense to Vineyard crowd

July 19, 2018 12:00 am • Last Updated: July 19, 2018 7:35 pm

FILE - In this April 25, 2012 file photo attorney Alan Dershowitz attends a premiere of a film during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, in New York. Dershowitz, a renowned defense lawyer who represented O.J. Simpson, and who identifies as a centrist Democrat, has lamented that even though he voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton, invitations to dinner and other highbrow social events on the island of Martha's Vineyard off Massachusetts have dried up over his backing of President Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) — Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has doubled down on his defense of President Donald Trump to the Martha's Vineyard crowd that he says has shunned him.

The Boston Globe reports Dershowitz hosted a talk at a local theater Wednesday night where he explains his past comments and says his job is to "provoke conversation."

Dershowitz has been criticized for arguing that a special counsel should not have been appointed to investigate Trump's dealings with Russia.

He laments in an op-ed for The Hill last month that his stance has prompted liberal elites on the Vineyard, where he frequently vacations, to shun him.

Wednesday's event comes days after Trump suggested he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin when he denied Russian agents interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2015 file photo people walk near cottages in the Camp Meeting Association neighborhood of Oak Bluffs, Mass., on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Alan Dershowitz, a renowned defense lawyer who represented O.J. Simpson, and who identifies as a centrist Democrat, has lamented that even though he voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton, invitations to dinner and other highbrow social events on Martha's Vineyard have dried up over his backing of President Trump. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

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