How can the White House ignore Congressional subpoenas and get away with it?

Question

Exactly how much power does the President have under "executive privilege"? He can break the law and simply ignore court orders?

Answer 1

Because with the complicity of a politicized Justice Dept. and Supreme Court, Bush will have all the support he needs to avoid disclosure through claims of executive privilege.

Every president asserts executive privilege and it is up to the courts to decide if his claims are valid. All Congress can do is refuse to fund the executive branch. Of course the president would veto any such legislation, so the ugly cycle of secrecy continues.

Answer 2

There are alot of articles/examinations. US v Nixon illustrates this issue. Read up on it. Here is a good quote: "Neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances. The President's need for complete candor and objectivity from advisors calls for great deference from the courts. However, when the privilege depends solely on the broad, undifferentiated claim of public interest in the confidentiality of such conversations, a confrontation with other values arises."—Chief Justice Warren Burger

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE refers to the assertion made by the President or other executive branch officials when they refuse to give Congress, the courts, or private parties information or records which have been requested or subpoenaed, or when they order government witnesses not to testify before Congress.
The assertion is based on the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers, is always controversial, subject to interpretation, and often litigated.

Answer 3

First of all congress is not the leader of this country, the president is. Secondly if the President had or is breaking the law, he would be subject to arrest, and would have to go to court just like everyone else. The fact that he hasnt been arrested tells me that your "opinion" that he has broken the law, isnt shared by those who are charged with making those kinds of determinations. Which by the way, is CONGRESS......lol. The Presidents ability to dodge a subpoena from congress is another check and balance. It allows the President to avoid being dragged into a lengthy, drawn out, politically motivated lawyer debate convention, where he is the circus clown. the message sent to congress by the Presidents unwillingness to participate in his own discrediting is the following....."File your charges or dont, but I retain my right to the executive version of the 5th ammendment, such that if you should choose to file against me, you will not be able to force me to make testimony that will be used against me later." All of us citizens have the right to this, why should the President be the only one that doesnt deserve the right not to be forced to incriminate himself. All the President is saying is, that he is not going to play these little cheap political games. If he actually broke the law, all congress has to do is file. I dont know how the impeachment proceedings work, but I can assure you that congress does. If they had a winnable case, I guarantee you that it would already be underway.

Answer 4

UNITED STATES v. NIXON, 418 U.S. 683 (1974) Must be differentiated from the current case for several reasons. First, Nixon involved a supboena from the special prosecutor (executive branch) in a criminal matter; Second, the Court in Nixon allowed an in camera inspection of the materials, not a blanket supboena. That means the judge would review the documents to determine what was necessary for the criminal investigation before any information was released. In the present case, the supboena will be issued by Congress. There is no question the information will be released to the public in very short order once Congress has it. The purpose of executive privilege is to allow the President to seek advice and counsel of his closest aides without fear of the information being exposed. For example, suppose the administration considered a pre-emptive strike against North Korea and decided against it. Would you want that information being released to the public? Of course not, it could threaten our national security. More importantly, it would have a chilling effect on those giving advice to the President. Would you want to be the one who had to present figures of possible US casualties? Once that hit the press you would forever be tagged with that assessment. Such information is necessary to evaluate options. It is similar to attorney-client privilege. In many cases, it is attorney-client privilege since many attorneys work for the President on a daily basis and he is often seeking legal advice. To take this information and politicize it would be detrimental to the effective function of government. There are no cases which have decided executive privilege in this instance because it has historically been respected by both sides. Having said that, executive privilege doesn't mean that the President doesn't have to give any information to Congress. Presidents often try to assert a broad executive privilege to avoid turning over any information to Congress in a scandal. In the present case there is certainly information which is not privileged and to which we are all entitled. Absent a compromise, a federal court will be charged with deciding what must be turned over and what must not. (The Supreme Court will not get into the nuts and bolts of what is and is not privileged, it will only define the scope of the privilege and leave it to a lower court to decide what fits within its definition).

Answer 5

If I may answer your question another way...

How come the housekeepers in the White House are instructed to buy Charmin tissue only? I reckon it's softer on the a** end. So, I believe is the way of the White House and all who use its facilities...they really baby their a** when it comes to politics. One great thing about being in the White House is that no one has to see your smile and relief when your having to do a number......#2 that is.

I wonder how they would feel for being made to use generic tissue? Poor babies......

A serious note...leaders are subject to their people because they LEAD the people, and the fact that you LEAD is what SETS YOU APART from others. Congress (the enabler) makes argument where they need to make some room for accountability of their own, and step out from being cover back and forth to one another in the scheme of things. The President should comply accordingly and make account for himself. Then we, the people (including leaders/politicians), should all open our favorite drink and have a real celebration. Anything less, it seems, just wouldn't be a party to me, personally, and in which case, I would kindly feel the need to withdraw myself from attendance.

Answer 6

this was set in motion by Pres Clinton who fought every subpoena issued him declaring "executive privilege. which is a smart idea let the court system decide what is constitutional on this. because if you have two different parties in white house and congress. the congress could have the power to view every piece of paper that the white house gets . which would give congress more power then allotted them.

Answer 7

He is only as powerful as Congress and the people let him get away with. "Executive privilege" was invented by the Executive branch to subvert the Constitution.

Congress needs to demand that the subpeonas be obeyed or start prosecuting people. Unfortunately, the Attorney General works for the President.

The President has created an amazing power block that enables him to ignore Congress and the people.

Remember, remember the 5th of November.

Answer 8

The chimp has acted as though he is above the law. The fact that congress issued the subpoenas and he is choosing to ignore them is interesting. Now if congress is responsible, they could order him arrested and jailed - although I don't believe it will get that far! If we ignored a subpoena, that is what would happen to us!

Answer 9

It's partly because the Congress doesn't have "authority" over the Executive Branch. Each of the three branches was created with an individual that the Kings used to completely wield.

Answer 10

No he can only delay. Congress has several procedural steps they can take to get the answers they are looking for. Meet the Press had a great segment on this issue this morning in which this administration was referred to as "Nixonism". Nixonism was the political mentality that the administration is above the laws of the land.