Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren called on Friday for Congress to pass a law that makes it clear the Justice Department can criminally indict a sitting president and charge the U. S. leader with obstructing justice.<\/b>
\nDemocratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren called on Friday for Congress to pass a law that makes it clear the Justice Department can criminally indict a sitting president and charge the U. S. leader with obstructing justice.
\u201cNo president is above the law,\u201d Warren said in a statement released by her campaign. \u201cCongress should make it clear that presidents can be indicted for criminal activity, including obstruction of justice.\u201d
Warren\u2019s call came in response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s 448-report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and his statement this week that Justice Department policy prevented him from bringing charges against a sitting president.
Mueller\u2019s report concluded that Russia repeatedly interfered in the 2016 election and that Trump\u2019s election campaign had multiple contacts with Russian officials, but did not establish a criminal conspiracy with Moscow to win the White House.
It declined to make a judgment on whether Trump obstructed justice, although it outlined 10 instances in which Trump tried to have Mueller fired or otherwise impede the investigation.
\u201cWhen the federal government tried to investigate, Donald Trump did everything he could to delay, distract and otherwise obstruct that investigation,\u201d Warren\u2019s statement said. \u201cThat\u2019s a crime. If Donald Trump were anyone other than the president of the United States, he would be in handcuffs and indicted.\u201d
Warren urged Congress to pass a law making it clear that presidents can be indicted for criminal activity, including obstruction of justice. She also said statutes relating to such obstruction should be amended to allow for indictment when a president abuses the powers of office.
Warren criticized Trump\u2019s attorney general, William Barr, saying he had \u201cacted like Trump\u2019s personal defense attorney.\u201d
She promised that if she is elected, she would ensure her appointees reverse a Justice Department opinion that argues a sitting president cannot be indicted.
\u201cDonald Trump is not a king. No president is. And our democracy only works if everyone can be held accountable,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n