Posted on Dec 4, 2017
Trump lawyer: 'The president cannot obstruct justice'
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Not just this case, but in any case.
Is it possible for the President, in the Role of President to Obstruct Justice Yes or No?
If no why not?
If yes, then holding the power of Pardon.....Should a President if found guilty of any crime be able to Pardon themselves?
What do you think?
Is it possible for the President, in the Role of President to Obstruct Justice Yes or No?
If no why not?
If yes, then holding the power of Pardon.....Should a President if found guilty of any crime be able to Pardon themselves?
What do you think?
Trump lawyer: 'The president cannot obstruct justice'
Posted from nbcnews.com
Donald Trump
Public Affairs
Government
Policy
Justice
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 13
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Good morning Erin - here is a good article on this issue:
President Trump was pleased with constitutional law scholar Alan Dershowitz’s defense of him over his firing of former FBI Director James Comey, calling the Harvard Law professor’s analysis on Fox News a “must watch” interview.
“A must watch: Legal Scholar Alan Dershowitz was just on @foxandfriendstalking of what is going on with respect to the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history. Enjoy!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Dershowitz, a lifelong Democrat, said Trump has the constitutional right as president to fire his FBI director.
“You cannot charge a president with obstruction of justice for exercising his constitutional power to fire Comey and his constitutional authority to tell the Justice Department who to investigate, who not to investigate,” Dershowitz said during an interview with Fox News.
“We have precedents that clearly establish that.”
Talk of the president obstructing justice resurfaced after his former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI last week about his conversation with the Russian ambassador.
Trump didn’t help matters by tweeting over the weekend that he knew Flynn lied to the FBI.
“I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies,” Trump wrote. “It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!”
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said over the weekend that a Senate investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election has revealed possible obstruction.
"I see it in the hyper-frenetic attitude of the White House, the comments every day, the continual tweets. And I see it most importantly in what happened with the firing of Director Comey, and it is my belief that that is directly because he did not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation. That’s obstruction of justice,” Feinstein said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
But Dershowitz disagreed.
"If Congress were ever to charge him with obstruction of justice for exercising his constitutional authority under Article II, we'd have a constitutional crisis," he said.
The famed attorney explained “clearly illegal acts” on the president’s part would need to be proven.
"There's never been a case in history where a president has been charged with obstruction of justice for merely exercising his constitutional authority. That would cause a constitutional crisis in the United States," Dershowitz said, hoping Special Counsel Robert Mueller understands that.
"And Sen. Feinstein simply doesn't know what she's talking about when she says it's obstruction of justice to do what a president is completely authorized to do under the Constitution."
President Trump was pleased with constitutional law scholar Alan Dershowitz’s defense of him over his firing of former FBI Director James Comey, calling the Harvard Law professor’s analysis on Fox News a “must watch” interview.
“A must watch: Legal Scholar Alan Dershowitz was just on @foxandfriendstalking of what is going on with respect to the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history. Enjoy!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Dershowitz, a lifelong Democrat, said Trump has the constitutional right as president to fire his FBI director.
“You cannot charge a president with obstruction of justice for exercising his constitutional power to fire Comey and his constitutional authority to tell the Justice Department who to investigate, who not to investigate,” Dershowitz said during an interview with Fox News.
“We have precedents that clearly establish that.”
Talk of the president obstructing justice resurfaced after his former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI last week about his conversation with the Russian ambassador.
Trump didn’t help matters by tweeting over the weekend that he knew Flynn lied to the FBI.
“I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies,” Trump wrote. “It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!”
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said over the weekend that a Senate investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election has revealed possible obstruction.
"I see it in the hyper-frenetic attitude of the White House, the comments every day, the continual tweets. And I see it most importantly in what happened with the firing of Director Comey, and it is my belief that that is directly because he did not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation. That’s obstruction of justice,” Feinstein said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
But Dershowitz disagreed.
"If Congress were ever to charge him with obstruction of justice for exercising his constitutional authority under Article II, we'd have a constitutional crisis," he said.
The famed attorney explained “clearly illegal acts” on the president’s part would need to be proven.
"There's never been a case in history where a president has been charged with obstruction of justice for merely exercising his constitutional authority. That would cause a constitutional crisis in the United States," Dershowitz said, hoping Special Counsel Robert Mueller understands that.
"And Sen. Feinstein simply doesn't know what she's talking about when she says it's obstruction of justice to do what a president is completely authorized to do under the Constitution."
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CPO (Join to see)
SFC Shirley WhitfieldSP5 Mark Kuzinski Take note that Dershowitz, who likes DJT's support of Israel, has long argued Trump cannot obstruct justice. Here is a rebuttal written in June2017 outlining where Dershowitz's argument falls short.
"Dershowitz’s mistake is to confuse what might be true in run-of-the-mill federal cases, where the President arguably has ultimate control over prosecutorial decisions, with potential criminal matters involving the President’s top aides—which the Supreme Court has concluded can be taken out of the President’s complete control, given the obvious conflict-of-interest."
https://www.lawfareblog.com/view-supreme-court-alan-dershowitz-wrong-about-powers-president
"Dershowitz’s mistake is to confuse what might be true in run-of-the-mill federal cases, where the President arguably has ultimate control over prosecutorial decisions, with potential criminal matters involving the President’s top aides—which the Supreme Court has concluded can be taken out of the President’s complete control, given the obvious conflict-of-interest."
https://www.lawfareblog.com/view-supreme-court-alan-dershowitz-wrong-about-powers-president
In the View of the Supreme Court, Alan Dershowitz Is Wrong About the Powers of the President
The Constitution does not give the President the exclusive power to control all federal law-enforcement investigations—and to shut any of them down for any reason the President sees fit.
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CPO (Join to see)
Erin Nelson - I'm calling BS on your assertion! Please provide an image or link to support your assertion that any such quote is carved deeply into the gold dome of the Iowa capitol building. I will of course apologize and admit my fault if I am wrong, but will you?
Exterior- http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/1fa7c42fd2b84c7bb7f7bb29b9075cdc/detail-of-iowa-state-capitol-golden-dome-aw32kx.jpg
Interior-
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Iowa_State_Capitol_Rotunda.jpg
BTW, Iowa has erased history from the carvings in their capitol building before. I wonder what the corner stone said prior to 1873
https://books.google.com/books?id=IyBAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA305&lpg=PA305&dq=iowa+capitol+dome+inscription&source=bl&ots=NUj6tkB8ZS&sig=eqN06VJGVy04wRMKBuU7qkOVuAI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUw5u7iPHXAhWSRN8KHZ3sBd0Q6AEIYTAL#v=onepage&q=iowa%20capitol%20dome%20inscription&f=false
Exterior- http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/1fa7c42fd2b84c7bb7f7bb29b9075cdc/detail-of-iowa-state-capitol-golden-dome-aw32kx.jpg
Interior-
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Iowa_State_Capitol_Rotunda.jpg
BTW, Iowa has erased history from the carvings in their capitol building before. I wonder what the corner stone said prior to 1873
https://books.google.com/books?id=IyBAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA305&lpg=PA305&dq=iowa+capitol+dome+inscription&source=bl&ots=NUj6tkB8ZS&sig=eqN06VJGVy04wRMKBuU7qkOVuAI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUw5u7iPHXAhWSRN8KHZ3sBd0Q6AEIYTAL#v=onepage&q=iowa%20capitol%20dome%20inscription&f=false
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski
CPO (Join to see) - Instead of all this BS on the part of the left let's just see how things shake out. Trump won because we were sold down the river during the worst 8 years that anyone could image under Obama. Move out of the way or get run over and let Trump bring America back to what it was "Great!"
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SP5 Mark Kuzinski - 1. So we are not discussing Dershowitz's weak conclusions any more? I present a counter argument referencing a SCOTUS decision and your reply is a stereotypical Rep diatribe that the electoral college went to DJT so he can do no wrong.
2. What year was America great that you want to get back to? I think the era you imagine never really existed. Your fond nostalgic view of the good old days is not reality and eliminates much of the truth of that time. I challenge you to state a year or general time period that fits your definition of "Great" and an explanation of how DJT will take us there. I'll accept your silence as your admission that you can't.
2. What year was America great that you want to get back to? I think the era you imagine never really existed. Your fond nostalgic view of the good old days is not reality and eliminates much of the truth of that time. I challenge you to state a year or general time period that fits your definition of "Great" and an explanation of how DJT will take us there. I'll accept your silence as your admission that you can't.
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It's like this administration is reeeeeaaally into historic reenactment. “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal" didn't work out so well for Nixon.
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CPO (Join to see)
CPO (Join to see) - Trump said he fired Flynn, but you claim Flynn resigned. Who should I believe? Who has their facts wrong?
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MAJ Bryan Zeski
CPO (Join to see) - No one knew all the Nixon details until the investigation was complete... Mueller isn't complete.
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