- United States
- Wash.
- Letter
Yesterday's SCOTUS decision on presidential immunity raises concerns. Congress should consider drafting and passing a bill providing legal definitions of US Const. Art. II "official acts" of a president. Section 4 of Article II makes clear that the framers of the Constitution did not intend to immunize the president from "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The Section 4 check on executive power does not deprive the judicial or legislative branches of their express constitutional powers under Articles I and III. In other words, Section 4 cannot be read as being exhaustive. A president is not a monarch. He/she cannot be "above the law." Presidential "official acts" therefore can and should be defined as excluding criminal conduct, including treason, bribery, and other high crimes (felonies) and misdemeanors.
A federal law in this regard can provide future guidance on cases under the immunity/non-immunity test described in SCOTUS's decision yesterday.
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