Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to “re-examine” whether it can indict a sitting president.
Schiff, the likely incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he believes that the DOJ’s position, reflected in an opinion of the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, should be given another look if it is found that following it would allow someone to escape justice.
“I think the Justice Department needs to reexamine that OLC opinion, Office of Legal Counsel opinion, that you cannot indict a sitting president under circumstances in which the failure to do so may mean that person escapes justice,” Schiff said.
“If it were the case that it was now or never … that if you wait until after the president leaves office they can no longer be brought to justice, that ought to create certainly an exception to that OLC rule,” Schiff said.
He added that the Office of Legal Counsel should consider “revisiting and revising the rule altogether.” – READ MORE