Obama ethics chief: Trump lawyer claim that president can’t obstruct justice is ‘baloney’

The former White House special counsel for ethics under President Obama on Monday ripped President Trump’s outside lawyer for his claim that a president can’t obstruct justice.

“Dowd is serving baloney 4breakfast,” Norm Eisen tweeted.

“Courts REGULARLY regularly consider otherwise lawful conduct BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS to be obstruction if undertaken with corrupt intent–MANY examples.”

Dowd is serving baloney 4breakfast. Courts REGULARLY regularly consider otherwise lawful conduct BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS to be obstruction if undertaken with corrupt intent–MANY examples (see e.g. page 76-77): https://t.co/v0lDIfNJMd https://t.co/H9RwpJzRO4

— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) December 4, 2017

Trump’s lawyer, John Dowd, said in an interview that a president can’t obstruct justice “because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution’s Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case.”

His comments came after Trump in a tweet over the weekend appeared to reveal he knew former national security adviser Michael Flynn had lied to the FBI when he was fired.

The tweet spurred controversy, as legal experts suggested if Trump knew Flynn had lied to the FBI and then asked Comey to drop the investigation, it could amount to obstruction of justice.

Trump in February said he fired Flynn because he lied to the vice president, but he didn’t mention anything related to what Flynn told the FBI.

Former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara also disputed the claim that a president can’t obstruct justice. He admitted it is a “very high bar,” but said the “mere fact that the president is the president doesn’t immunize him from an accusation of obstruction.”