Can the president obstruct justice?

The following article by Allison Michaels was posted on the Washington Post website December 8, 2017:

One of President Trump’s private lawyers, John Dowd, made a bold claim Monday that a president cannot be found guilty of obstruction of justice.

The statement raised a lot of questions for legal experts when it comes to laws applying to the American presidency: Can a president obstruct justice? Or is he immune from this as the chief law enforcement officer in the country?

With the help constitutional scholars, this episode of  “Can He Do That?” seeks  to answer some of the biggest questions we tackle on this podcast:

Are we facing a test case for the U.S. Constitution?

When it comes to limitations on the president, how many laws are based on the assumption that a president would police himself?

Are we, as a country, equipped to handle what happens when a president operates based on what he can do under technical legal terms vs. what history, precedent and norms dictate?

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Sari Horwitz guides us through Trump’s lawyers’ comments on obstruction of justice. Plus, legal experts weigh in on differing legal perspectives and how presidential pardoning may play a role in obstruction.

Listen to the full episode below.

View the post here.