Trump is claiming total executive power that would eclipse the legislative “co-equal” branch of government. In the weeks since the presidential election, president-elect Donald Trump and his allies have made a series of moves that indicate their intent to dangerously consolidate executive power under the controversial “unitary executive” theory of the Constitution. During the presidential… Read more »
Tag: Unitary Executive
Torture Memo Lawyer John Yoo Devises Theory for Stealing Presidential Elections
John Yoo has teamed up with Robert Delahunty, his coauthor of some of the infamous torture memos during the George W. Bush administration, to devise a blueprint for the vice president to decide the outcome of presidential elections. This legal theory will be published in a forthcoming 82-page law review article in the Case Western Reserve Law Review. In their… Read more »
William Barr Will Be a Loyal Foot Soldier in King Trump’s Army
At his attorney general confirmation hearing, William Barr sought to reassure senators on the Judiciary Committee that Robert Mueller’s probe would be allowed to continue, saying, “I believe it is vitally important that the Special Counsel be allowed to complete his investigation.” But Barr, who champions a disturbing radical right-wing theory of all-encompassing presidential power called… Read more »
Did Trump Break the Law by Ordering Sessions to End Mueller Investigation?
Since the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, Donald Trump’s fury has steadily mounted. Trump has railed against Mueller’s investigation, repeatedly calling it a “witch hunt.” But last week, as Paul Manafort’s trial got underway and Trump expressed fear that his son, Donald Trump Jr.,… Read more »
Dissecting Trump’s Efforts to Place Himself Above the Law
“Nobody is above the law,” Donald Trump declared during the 2016 campaign. But as special counsel Robert Mueller zeroes in on him, the president is carving out an exemption for himself. Trump and his attorneys are claiming absolute power for the president. Trump’s attorney and mouthpiece Rudy Giuliani told HuffPost that Trump could not be… Read more »
Showdown Looming Over Executive Privilege
George W. Bush’s presidential tenure has been marked by one cover-up after another. But the masterful spinning of Karl Rove and a compliant media enabled Bush to get away with it. Now that the Democrat-controlled Congress is investigating administration malfeasance, Bush’s cover-ups have come cloaked in the guise of “executive privilege.” Bush has claimed executive… Read more »
The Unitary King George
As the nation focused on whether Congress would exercise its constitutional duty to cut funding for the war, Bush quietly issued an unconstitutional bombshell that went virtually unnoticed by the corporate media. The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, signed on May 9, 2007, would place all governmental power in the hands of the… Read more »
Alito Sounds Death Knell for Individual Rights
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee began its confirmation hearings on the nomination of Samuel Alito for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Alito is no John Roberts. Whereas Roberts had barely been a judge for two years when Bush nominated him for the Supreme Court, Alito has authored 361 opinions during his 15-year tenure on… Read more »