LEGAL/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A recently published letter from President Donald Trump’s attorneys claiming that the president could not have obstructed the federal investigation into ties between his campaign and Russia is deeply flawed, 14 prominent law professors and legal scholars said Monday [6-4-18] in a pointed rebuttal sent to top lawyers at the White House…Among the better known signers of the rebuttal: Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, former U.S. Attorneys Harry Litman and Joyce Vance and former Obama White House ethics czar Norm Eisen. The letter was coordinated by Protect Democracy, a watchdog group.The scholars’ letter argues that the Constitution’s requirement that presidents ‘take care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ precludes the kind of sweeping arguments Trump private lawyers John Dowd and Jay Sekulow made in a 20-page January letter to special counsel Robert Mueller. The Trump attorneys’ missive was first published Saturday by The New York Times…The legal scholars argue that Trump could not fire Mueller or pardon himself if Trump’s goal was, in essence, to save his own hide. It is unclear from the letter under what circumstances, if any, the scholars believe a self-pardon would be valid.”
-Josh Gerstein, “Law professors torch Trump legal memo,” Politico, June 5, 2018 5:14 am