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Article: The Law: Executive Privilege: Definition and Standards of Application.
- Article from:
- Presidential Studies Quarterly
- Article date:
- December 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Center for the Study of the Presidency. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A core issue in the scandal that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton was the president's elaborate use of executive privilege. Although nowhere mentioned in the Constitution, executive privilege has a long history in presidential politics. Presidents since George Washington have claimed the right to withhold information from the legislative, judicial, and, ultimately, the public. Despite this long history and the many precedents for its exercise, executive privilege remains a controversial power.
On the fringes of the debate are those, such as scholar Raoul Berger, who have argued that executive privilege simply does not exist in our constitutional system, and ...