Giuliani Makes Shock Statement That Has Comey Shaking
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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani made a shocking statement on Sunday that should have former FBI Director James Comey shaking in his boots. Giuliani said that President Donald Trump could have taken extreme action to end the investigation into Russian collusion with his campaign during the 2016 presidential election and there is not a thing that could have been done about it.
“In no case can he be subpoenaed or indicted,” the former mayor told The Huffington Post, indicating that the president’s attorneys believe his powers are that broad. “I don’t know how you can indict while he’s in office. No matter what it is.”
He said that regardless of the crime, the remedy for a president who committed a criminal action would be impeachment. After the impeachment, the law could then decide what to do.
“If he shot James Comey, he’d be impeached the next day,” he said. “Impeach him, and then you can do whatever you want to do to him.”
Giuliani’s sentiment echoes what one of the president’s other attorneys, Jay Sekulow, and one of his former attorneys, John Dowd, wrote in a letter sent to special counsel Robert Mueller in January that was obtained by The New York Times. The men argued that it is impossible for the president to have obstructed justice as the Constitution gives him the power to end the investigation.
“It remains our position that the President’s actions here, by virtue of his position as the chief law enforcement officer, could neither constitutionally nor legally constitute obstruction because that would amount to him obstructing himself, and that he could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired.1Nevertheless, the President’s strong desire for transparency indicated the need to obtain an honest and complete factual report from the Special Counsel, which would sustain and even benefit the Office of the President and the national interest throughout his time in office. Thus, full cooperation was in order, and was in fact provided by all relevant parties,” the attorneys wrote.
The attorneys said that the president could have exercised executive privilege to stonewall the investigation as well. But, they said, in the interest of healing the nation by allowing the investigation to proceed, the president has not done that.
“We cannot emphasize enough that regardless of the fact that the executive privilege clearly applies to his senior staff, in the interest of complete transparency, the President has allowed — in fact, has directed — the voluntary production of clearly protected documents. This is because the President’s desire for transparency exceeded the policy purposes for the privilege under the circumstances. Without question, the privilege “attaches not only to direct communications with the President, but also to discussions between his senior advisors, who must be able to hold confidential meetings to discuss advice they secretly will render to the President.”7 The privilege applies and is available for the President to claim here because “restricting the presidential communications privilege to communications that directly involve the President will impede the President’s ability to perform his constitutional duty,” they wrote.
Not everyone agrees with Giuliani, Sekulow, and Dowd’s assessment of the president’s powers. Former President Barack Obama’s ethics czar Norm Eisen said that they are incorrect and that the president could be indicted.
“A president could not be prosecuted for murder? Really?” Eisen said. “It is one of many absurd positions that follow from their argument. It is self-evidently wrong.”
“The foundation of America is that no person is above the law,” he said. “A president can under extreme circumstances be indicted, but we’re facing extreme circumstances.”
The fact is that no one really knows how broad the president’s powers are in this regard as it has never been tested. But it might be wise for James Comey to sleep with one eye open for the time being.