Bruce Green coauthored an op-ed for The Hill about President Donald Trump’s role in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation.
In an attempt to discredit the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, President Trump has claimed absolute control over the Department of Justice. His lawyers, no surprise, had echoed his claim, though they had advised him to be cooperative with the special counsel. Less obvious allies also have assumed the president’s power over prosecution. Most recently, two former solicitors general, Neal Katyal and Ken Starr, used this premise to argue in a New York Times editorial that Congress cannot protect Robert Mueller’s investigation from presidential interference.
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Yes, the president has power to hire and fire the attorney general. And he can pardon anyone charged with a federal offense. But he has no power to control individual prosecutors. He cannot direct or interfere with their decisions.