LogFAQs > #923692051

banananor posted...

red sox 777 posted...

Mr Lasastryke posted...

Vlado posted...

For what? For not starting a war with Iran? (for now)

apparently he has obstructed justice, as LotM said.

I am fairly confident that the US Supreme Court would rule that it is impossible, as a matter of law, for a sitting president to commit obstruction of justice as to a federal investigation.

Hey, so no shame in not knowing something, but this part of what you said is factually incorrect

There is nothing in the law that says sitting presidents are immune from prosecution.

It is just the current policy of the DoJ not to prosecute. It's not a law, just something the DoJ decided during the scramble during Nixon. And if the proper office doesn't prosecute someone, they don't go to trial

I didn't say there was a law giving presidents immunity. I am expressing my opinion that the Supreme Court would hold that presidents are immune from federal prosecution, for the specific crime of obstruction, based on constitutional principles. Namely, the constitutional gives all of the federal law enforcement power of the United States to the president, so that any federal investigation is done ultimately at the direction of the president. He has full discretion to investigate or not investigate as he chooses, so how could he obstruct an investigation when he has the absolute discretion to discontinue it?

As for whether the president could be prosecuted for say, shooting someone on Fifth Avenue, I would say that probably you can do that because he isn't doing that in the course of discharging the duties of his office. But it wouldn't stop him from being president and, of course, he could order the DOJ not to prosecute him. Effectively it would have to be a state prosecution to succeed.
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September 1, 2003; November 4, 2007; September 2, 2013
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