Ever since the special counsel began his Russia investigation, President Donald Trump, backed by his Justice Department, took the position that a sitting president could not be indicted and that impeachment is the only remedy if he committed a crime such as obstruction of justice. But now, a May 19 opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel seeks to close off that avenue as well, by making it impossible as a practical matter for Congress to obtain the evidence it needs for impeachment. Here’s why.

That opinion concludes that the president has the constitutional right to prevent any of his current or former advisers from testifying before Congress, no matter what the subject is, or why Congress wants the testimony. On its face, that opinion cannot stand for three reasons, but its most important defect is that it would effectively delete the remedy of impeachment from the Constitution.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]