Reuters: Explainer: Can Trump use executive privilege to withhold full Mueller report?

[pat_k]

Last edited Thu May 9, 2019, 02:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Is it possible Trump has finally gone too far? He has crossed so many lines with impunity, but his blanket claim to executive power to block any subpoenas from Congress strikes me as extreme enough to provoke some serious -- and consequential -- push back. Remember, U.S. v. Nixon was decided 9-0 -- with Nixon appointees voting for co-equal powers.


Reuters
Explainer: Can Trump use executive privilege to withhold full Mueller report?
MAY 8, 2019

...
The term “executive privilege” was not used until the 1950s. The doctrine’s contours were unclear until a 1974 Supreme Court case. In U.S. v. Nixon, President Richard Nixon was ordered to deliver tapes and other subpoenaed materials to a federal judge for review. The justices ruled 9-0 that a president’s right to privacy in his communications must be balanced against Congress’ need to investigate and oversee the executive branch.

U.S. v. Nixon is also widely understood to mean that executive privilege cannot be used to cover up wrongdoing. That view was endorsed by current U.S. Attorney General William Barr during his Senate confirmation hearing.

One lesson of U.S. v. Nixon is that an executive privilege claim is particularly weak when Congress has invoked its power to remove a president from office through impeachment, said Frank Bowman, a law professor at the University of Missouri.

In the impeachment context, “virtually no part of a president’s duties or behavior is exempt from scrutiny,” Bowman said.

...

[DonaldsRump]

1. It was actually 8-0

Associate Justice Rehnquist recused himself from US v. Nixon. Surprised that Reuters got this wrong.

Anyway, thanks for posting this.

[pat_k]

3. And thanks for the correction!

[Voltaire2]

2. As many of us have repeatedly noted

impeachment is the route that Trump cannot obstruct.

It’s time to set the table.

[pat_k]

5. This should wake up even the "impeachment is the third rail" Dems

[uponit7771]

4. This article doesn't address timing, who cares if Red Don can run out the clock

[pat_k]

6. In U.S. v. Nixon "crisis" began in May '73 and ended in July '73

I don't think the courts dilly dally in a constitutional standoff of this magnitude. I hope DT's "run out the clock" assumption is flat wrong. (But he has crossed so many other lines with little consequence.... we are in a whole new world, so who knows?)