Government

High-Profile Conservative Lawyers Call Trump's Behavior Into Question, Ask Congress To Investigate

There's now bipartisan support for further investigation of the information documented in the Mueller report.

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(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The facts contained in the report reveal that the President engaged in persistent conduct intended to derail, undermine and obstruct ongoing federal investigations. In light of the longstanding Department of Justice legal opinion that a sitting President cannot be indicted, we view it as irrelevant whether there is a prosecutorial recommendation that the crime of obstruction has been committed. Instead, we believe that the President’s conduct demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the rule of law — a disregard that is in direct conflict with his constitutional responsibilities, including his commitment under oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” …

We believe the framers of the Constitution would have viewed the totality of this conduct as evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors. Accordingly, Congress, which carries its own constitutional oversight responsibilities, should conduct further investigation.

— an excerpt from a statement released by Checks & Balances, a group of high-profile conservative lawyers, asking Congress to further investigate President Donald Trump based on the conduct detailed in the Mueller report. Signatories to the statement include Professor Jonathan H. Adler of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Donald B. Ayer of Jones Day (a retired partner, formerly of the Justice Department), John B. Bellinger III of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (formerly of the State Department and National Security Council), George T. Conway III of Wachtell (husband of Kellyanne Conway), Carrie F. Cordero of the Center for a New American Security at Georgetown (formerly of the Justice Department), Stuart M. Gerson of Epstein Becker & Green (formerly of the Justice Department), Peter D. Keisler of Sidley Austin (formerly of the Justice Department), Marisa C. Maleck of King & Spalding (a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas), Alan Charles Raul of Sidley Austin (formerly served as Associate Counsel to President Ronald Regan), Paul Rosenzweig of R Street Institute (formerly of Homeland Security), and Professor J.W. Verret of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School (formerly of the Trump transition team).

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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