Mueller confirms that a president can be indicted after leaving office

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP/Getty Images)

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is maintaining that his investigation team did not have the authority to indict a sitting president, citing an opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel. But he did leave the door open for the future.

During Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, committee chair Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked Mueller if it was true that even if he had concluded President Trump had obstructed his office's investigation into 2016 Russian election interference, the special counsel could not have publicly stated so because of the OLC opinion. Mueller confirmed.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.