Elizabeth Warren wants to make it possible to indict sitting presidents
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with her latest policy proposal is taking aim at the Department of Justice policy saying a sitting president can't be indicted.
Warren laid out her plan to end this policy in a Medium post on Friday, saying it would involve Congress passing a law clarifying its "intent that the Department of Justice can indict the president of the United States."
Additionally, Warren says she'd amend obstruction of justice statutes to "explicitly" allow for the president to be indicted, and if elected president, would appoint an assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel to reverse the rule that says a president can't be indicted. She also pledged to appoint an attorney general who "shares my strong conviction that no one — not even a president — is above the law."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This proposal comes two days after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller in a press conference discussed the findings of his two-year investigation, which did not establish a criminal conspiracy between President Trump and Russia and did not conclude whether Trump obstructed justice but laid out instances of potential obstruction. Mueller said on Wednesday that indicting Trump was never "an option" because of the DOJ policy preventing it.
"If Donald Trump were anyone other than the president of the United States right now, he would be in handcuffs and indicted," Warren contended. The 2020 Democrat has already called on Congress to impeach Trump, but she says this should not be the only way to hold the president "accountable for criminal behavior."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
The plant-based portfolio diet focuses on heart healthThe Explainer Its guidelines are flexible and vegan-friendly
-
Gregory Bovino: the officer leading Border Patrol’s aggressive tacticsIn the Spotlight He has been referred to as the Border Patrol’s ‘commander-at-large’
-
Tips for surviving loneliness during the holiday season — with or without peoplethe week recommends Solitude is different from loneliness
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
