Professor Jed Shugerman was quoted in an ABA Journal article looking at two key points from Robert Mueller’s July 24 Congressional hearing testimony.
Fordham law professor Jed Handelsman Shugerman noted Mueller’s comments on the OLC opinion. He also noted Mueller’s agreement that Department of Justice policy allows for the indictment of a president after the president leaves office.
Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, raised a related issue with this question: “What if a president serves beyond the statute of limitations?”
Mueller said he didn’t know the answer to the question.
Shugerman said the problem is that a two-term president could run the statute of limitations and avoid prosecution. The OLC memo had assumed that a judge could toll the statute of limitations, but it cited no precedent for such power, he said.
“And thus, Quigley set up a new legal argument for impeachment: The statute of limitations means a president could be permanently above the law,” Shugerman wrote. “A House impeachment could be the only opportunity to hold Trump accountable or even accuse him legally. Ever.”
Additional media coverage on this topic:
Legal Expert Shows How Robert Mueller’s Hearing ‘Set up a new legal argument for impeachment’
A Republican Congressman Just Got Mueller to Reveal a Bombshell Conclusion About Trump
Post-Mueller’s Testimony: What’s Next?