Los Angeles | In-Person

Are American Presidents Above the Law?

Photo by Ron Edmonds/Associated Press.

A Zócalo/UCLA Downtown Event
Moderated by Madeleine Brand, Host, KCRW’s “Press Play”

The Mueller report promises to clarify what happened in the 2016 election and its aftermath. But that document may only add to the confusion over a broader question: What does it take to fire an American president? In recent months, critics of Donald Trump have discussed removing the president by impeachment, indictment, and the 25th Amendment. But no president has ever been impeached and convicted by the Senate, and the Department of Justice may preclude a president from being indicted. If impeachment is impossible, what methods exist, legally, for removing a president? Why do we have special prosecutors if they can’t prosecute? Is the American president, for all practical purposes, above the law? UCLA constitutional law scholar Jon D. Michaels, Wake Forest political scientist and author of The Special Prosecutor in American Politics Katy Harriger, and Joel D. Aberbach, political scientist and former director of the UCLA Center for American Politics and Public Policy, visit Zócalo to examine the historical, customary, and legal precedents that protect our presidents.

LOCATION:
National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
111 N. Central Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Paid parking is available at the Little Tokyo Mall Public Parking Lot (318 E. First St.). Enter from San Pedro Street. Additional paid parking is available at the Japanese Village Plaza Parking Lot (356 E. First St.) and the Office Depot Plaza Parking Lot (401 Alameda St.).

The Takeaway

Voters—Not Mueller or Congress—Will End Trump’s Presidency

Legal and Political Realities Make It Difficult to Remove a President, Even If He’s Broken the Law

Can a sitting president be indicted? Can a president pardon himself? These were just some of the questions UCLA constitutional law scholar Jon D. Michaels, Wake Forest political scientist Katy Harriger, and Joel …