Washington Post: Six post-Trump reforms to help protect the rule of law
The Presidential Reform Project’s Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith contributed an article to the Washington Post on six of their proposed reforms to the Presidency:
President Trump’s four-year effort to manipulate the Justice Department to protect himself and serve his political ends has suffered some spectacular failures. The department’s investigation into possible wrongdoing related to “unmasking” has ended without incident. Trump’s frequent demands that the department indict people he considers political enemies appear unlikely to be satisfied. Trump tried to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and squelch publication of Mueller’s report, but executive-branch subordinates would not cooperate.
Norms and laws worked much better in these instances than many feared they might. But Trump’s incessant norm-breaking and possible lawbreaking still damaged the appearance and reality of even-handed justice. The White House and Justice Department notably failed on several occasions to adhere to relevant norms of independence. Some deviations were significant. And a future president could follow Trump’s playbook with much greater competence.