III.B. Constitutional Defenses to Applying Obstruction-Of-Justice Statutes to Presidential Conduct (Mueller Report)
Government Unfiltered
Dan Williams
4.8 • 993 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2019
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Summary
Part 2 of 2 from Section III. Legal Defenses to the Application of Obstruction-of-Justice Statutes to the President. This subsection of Volume 2, pages 168-182, explores how constitutional tension is reconciled through separation-of-powers analysis when the President's official actions come into conflict with the prohibitions in the obstruction-of-justice statutes.
Constitutional Defenses to Applying Obstruction-Of-Justice Statutes to Presidential Conduct (0:09)
- The Requirement of a Clear Statement to Apply Statutes to Presidential Conduct Does Not Limit the Obstruction Statutes (1:56)
- Separation-of-Powers Principles Support the Conclusion that Congress May Validly Prohibit Corrupt Obstructive Acts Carried Out Through the President's Official Powers (7:29)
- The Supreme Court's Separation-of-Powers Balancing Test Applies In This Context (8:24)
- The Effect of Obstruction-of-Justice Statutes on the President's Capacity to Perform His Article II Responsibilities is Limited (11:54)
- Congress Has Power to Protect Congressional, Grand Jury, and Judicial Proceedings Against Corrupt Acts from Any Source (18:02)
- Ascertaining Whether the President Violated the Obstruction Statutes Would Not Chill his Performance of his Article II Duties (22:01)
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Transcript
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| 0:34.9 | Welcome to the Mueller Report audio. |
| 0:39.0 | Section 3B. |
| 0:44.6 | Constitutional defenses to applying obstruction of justice statutes to presidential conduct. |
| 0:49.0 | The president has broad discretion to direct criminal investigations. |
| 0:55.4 | The Constitution vests the executive power in the president and enjoins him to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Those powers and duties form the foundation of prosecutorial discretion. The President |
| 1:01.9 | also has authority to appoint officers of the United States and to remove those whom he has appointed. |
| 1:07.9 | Although the President has broad authority under Article 2, that authority |
| 1:11.4 | coexists with Congress's Article 1 power to enact laws that protect congressional proceedings, |
| 1:16.4 | federal investigations, the courts, and grand juries against corrupt efforts to undermine their |
| 1:20.9 | functions. Usually, those constitutional powers function in harmony, with the president enforcing |
| 1:26.3 | the criminal laws under Article 2 to |
| 1:28.1 | protect against corrupt, obstructive acts. But when the president's official actions come into |
| 1:32.7 | conflict with the prohibitions and the obstruction statutes, any constitutional tension is |
| 1:37.5 | reconciled through separation of powers analysis. The president's counsel has argued that the |
| 1:42.7 | president's exercise of his constitutional authority, |
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