Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)
69 Articles
Revisiting the Office of Legal Counsel’s Override Opinion
A critical analysis of 1989 OLC Opinion that would allow President to use force in violation of UN Charter and without Congressional support.
Recently Released OLC Opinions From 1974 Shed Light on Current Legal Debates
Earlier this month, my colleagues and I at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University secured the release of 96 previously withheld opinions authored by the Justice…
The Soleimani Strike and War Powers
Key Legal Questions, With Preview of a New Research Database
Selective Disclosure of OLC legal Opinions Isn’t Enough
The ad hoc release of OLC opinions raises more fundamental questions about the role of the OLC and the public’s right to know how the executive branch interprets the law.
The Real Decline of OLC
How a string of controversial decisions by the Trump Office of Legal Counsel has eroded its legitimacy. From a former government attorney who served in the Trump administration's…
Bill Barr’s Extreme Views on War Powers Mean Congress’s Window to Stop War with Iran is Now
Attorney General Barr’s extreme past positions on unilateral presidential power could cut out any required role for Congress in authorizing or rejecting war. Here's what Congress…
Barr’s Playbook: He Misled Congress When Omitting Parts of Justice Dep’t Memo in 1989
When Bill Barr was head of Office of Legal Counsel, he gave Congress the legal conclusions and reasoning of an important Justice Department memo but left out major portions of…
Why It Doesn’t Matter Whether It’d Be Constitutional to Indict Trump
Lederman writes that so much of the public discussion is a distraction from Mueller's greatest value: determining if President Trump is compromised by Moscow, thus preventing the…
Initial Reactions to OLC’s Opinion on the Whitaker Designation as “Acting” Attorney General
Two former Office of Legal Counsel officials analyze OLC's opinion on Matthew Whitaker's legal status as Acting Attorney General.
A Path to Prosecuting President Trump
Justice Department regulations allow Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in “extraordinary circumstances,” to ask Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to approve a departure…
Mueller Lacks Authority to Indict Trump
Whatever one’s views on the ultimate questions of whether a sitting president may constitutionally be indicted and for what offenses, they are as a practical (and legal) matter…
OLC’s Formal (and Remarkably Broad) Defense of the April Syria Strikes
This morning, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel posted a formal, 22-page opinion, concluding that the April 13 airstrikes on Syria were lawful.