Examples Of Executive Privilege

Opinion Paper- Executive Privilege Executive privilege is defined as “the right of executive officials to refuse to appear before or withhold information from a legislative committee or a court on the grounds that a certain communications between a president and his advisors are protected from disclosure”. In actuality, executive privilege is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. The Constitution never outright says that the president can refuse a subpoena or withhold information, but it is a principle that has been intermittently used throughout the history of presidencies to protect the goings on between certain people, information, and opinions. While executive privilege has many criticisms, I believe that executive privilege is constitutional and still very relevant today in the
The definition is clear in the sense that it explains what executive privilege is, but there seem to be blurred lines and wavering opinions about when and in what situations the president can claim his executive privilege. What information the president might deem as necessary to be withheld from the public might be something that the public as a whole, or certain groups of people, think is necessary information for us to know as citizens. As citizens and taxpayers of the United States, we deserve to know what is going on in the White House. However, there is still the security that if the president were to claim executive privilege, there would be other executives to question the decision, and potentially stand for or stand up against the legitimacy of the claim. Although the intent of the president using executive power could be deceitful, because of the other executive checks in place, I believe that executive privilege is constitutional and beneficial to our political