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Trump's personal lawyer claims the President can't obstruct justice
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's personal attorney, John Dowd, claims the President cannot be guilty of obstructing justice, according to an interview with Axios.
"(The) President cannot 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," Dowd told Axios.
The new defense comes after a tweet from Trump's account suggested the President knew former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn had lied to the FBI when he was fired in February, raising questions about whether Trump knew about Flynn's lying before pressuring former FBI Director James Comey to let go of inquiries into Russian election meddling.
The position that Trump cannot obstruct justice -- which evokes a similar claim once made by former President Richard Nixon, who resigned over the Watergate scandal -- is sure to be debated as special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation intensifies. Flynn is the first administration official to be charged as part of the probe.
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“Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
—Richard Nixon to David Frost, 1977
'L'etat c'est moi' ('I am the state')
Louis XIV
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No one is above the law.