David Priess on 'How to Get Rid of a President'
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 19 December 2018
⏱️ 35 minutes
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Summary
David Priess is man of many national security hats. Long before becoming Lawfare's head of operations, Priess was an intelligence officer, manager, and briefer with the CIA, including some time spent as a primary PDB briefer to then-FBI director Robert Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft. Since leaving government, Priess has become a historian of national security, intelligence, and the presidency, most recently writing on the history of presidential removal in the book "How to Get Rid of a President: History's Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives." Lawfare's Mikhaila Fogel sat down with David to discuss his recent book, his research process, and the national security implications for these historic episodes.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising. |
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| 0:08.0 | become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash law fair. |
| 0:14.0 | That's patreon.com slash law fair. |
| 0:18.0 | Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, |
| 0:22.0 | rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.0 | If it's an unpopular president, that is someone who has proven through his theoretically her actions, |
| 0:41.0 | that the people just aren't behind you. |
| 0:44.0 | That by itself is not a trigger for one of the more dramatic moves, like impeachment. |
| 0:49.0 | No, you wait till the next election. |
| 0:51.0 | This is what the founders had in mind, and honestly, I think it was back in April of this year. |
| 0:57.0 | It's what Jim Comey said when asked by ABC, whether he favored impeachment. |
| 1:01.0 | He said no. That's something that should be the direct vote of the American people, |
| 1:06.0 | and it takes it off of their back if you impeach him first. |
| 1:09.0 | That was based on what he knew it in April of 2018. |
| 1:12.0 | I don't know how he would feel now based on other things coming out. |
| 1:16.0 | But if it's an unpopular president, you vote them out, or you hope that the party says |
| 1:20.0 | we're going to put up somebody else in the primaries and not even put that person on the ballot. |
| 1:25.0 | If it's an unable president, somebody who cannot do the job, |
| 1:29.0 | then I think you've got to go to the 25th Amendment. |
| 1:32.0 | I'm Michaela Fogel, and this is the Law Fair Podcast December 18, 2018. |
| 1:39.0 | David Priese is a man of many national security hats. |
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