President Trump and the Law

Catalog description

Donald Trump's Presidency has given rise to numerous important constitutional matters that implicate not just the law, but the accepted values upon which the constitutional order depends. These issues, which will be studied in this seminar, include, but are not limited to, the following: the scope of executive privilege and of a president's emergency powers; whether a sitting president may be indicted under federal and/or state law; whether a president may pardon himself or herself and whether a president's use of the pardon power may constitute an obstruction of justice; whether congress has a legal right to obtain President Trump's federal tax returns; whether congress and/or New York state officials have a legal right to secure President Trump's financial records from private financial institutions; whether the Espionage Acts make it a felony for the press to publish classified information; whether President Trump has violated the Emolument Clauses; whether President Trump should be removed from office pursuant to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment; and whether it is an impeachable offense for President Trump to fire certain executive officials, refuse to comply with congressional subpoenas, urge witnesses to lie in testimony given to congress or the courts, undermine the public's trust in the judiciary and the press upon which the democratic order depends, falsely accuse political opponents of treason, suggests that he will not vacate the office of the presidency if he loses the 2020 presidential election, and lie repeatedly to the American public about a broad range of issues. The course has a final written examination.