Trump's Direction to Prosecute Comey Could Complete the Obstruction of Justice Case
Any one of the president's single acts against the FBI director could be written off by reasonable people, but adding on top a desire to lock him up should tip the scales.
Barbara McQuade
11.21.18 5:28 PM ET
Has President Donald Trump just tipped the scales in favor of concluding that he has obstructed justice?
Recent reporting by The New York Times and CNN that Trump sought to direct the Department of Justice to prosecute Hillary Clinton and James Comey is an alarming violation of presidential norms, and it may also cross the line into illegal conduct.
While a directive by a president to prosecute a political rival like Clinton is highly unusual and inappropriate, it is the order relating to Comey that is most likely to amount to criminal behavior.
The president, as head of the executive branch, leads the Department of Justice and all other components of the executive branch. As such, the law does not prohibit him from suggesting or even directing DOJ to use its resources to investigate a potential crime.
To avoid the appearance of partisanship in the use of this power, however, norms have emerged in which DOJ and the White House discuss cases only at a high level, usually relating to policy decisions and priorities as opposed to charges in individual cases. Instead, the attorney general is entrusted to exercise his duties with independence, free from political interference by the president. This independence is important to ensure the reality and the perception that case decisions are made based on facts and evidence, and not on political considerations.
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-direction-to-prosecute-comey-could-complete-the-obstruction-of-justice-case?ref=home
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