Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
"You’Re Fired": Criminal Use Of Presidential Removal Power, Claire Finkelstein, Richard Painter
"You’Re Fired": Criminal Use Of Presidential Removal Power, Claire Finkelstein, Richard Painter
Articles
This Article addresses a specific, but critically important aspect of presidential power: the intersection between the president’s power to remove executive branch officers and criminal laws that are generally applicable to both office-holders and non-office-holders alike. The question we ask is whether the president can obstruct justice by removing a presidential appointee who is investigating or prosecuting crimes of the president himself or of his associates. Can a president remove an appointee who refuses to work on behalf of the president’s re-election campaign even though it is a crime for anyone, including a president, to order or coerce a federal …