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The Mueller report details crimes by the president that would lead to the indictment of any other citizen. But Mueller couldn’t bring charges because a Justice Department policy says you can’t charge a sitting president. That policy is wrong and needs to go. Here’s how and why.
The Mueller report is a clear roadmap for impeachment, because that’s the only path Mueller had. But impeachment shouldn’t be the only way that a president can be held accountable for committing a crime.
No president should be above the law. So why does this Justice Department act like he is? Because in the 1970s Richard Nixon’s Justice Department wrote a memo saying so (yes, really) and DOJ has continued to stand by that view.
Congress should pass a law clarifying that DOJ can indict the president if he or she commits a crime in office, and should amend our obstruction of justice statutes to explicitly allow for indictment when the President abuses the powers of the office—like Donald Trump did.
One of the strongest arguments against indictment is that the Constitution gives Congress the sole authority to decide when to interfere with the President's duties. These new laws would eliminate that argument and remove any statutory ambiguity.
Attorney General Bill Barr has disgraced himself by acting like Trump’s personal defense attorney. When I’m elected, I will appoint an Attorney General who shares my strong conviction that no one—not even a president—is above the law. And I’ll go one step further:
I pledge to nominate an Office of Legal Counsel head who will reverse the Watergate-era rule that a president cannot be indicted for criminal behavior. The OLC’s purpose is to govern the conduct of the executive branch, not act as the president’s get-out-of-jail-free card.
Our democracy only works if everyone can be held accountable. These changes will make sure that’s the case for generations to come. Read my full plan here: medium.com/@teamwarren/no…
