Cass R. Sunstein, Columnist

William Barr’s Baffling and Alarming View of Executive Power

Suppose the president can make sure the Justice Department never files criminal charges against him?

January 22, 2019 at 1:30 PM UTC

Cass R. Sunstein is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” and a co-author of “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.”

William Barr at his confirmation hearing.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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By all accounts, William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the position of attorney general, is a lawyer of integrity, decency and competence. For that reason, his memorandum of June 8, 2018, raising serious constitutional doubts about Robert Mueller’s investigation, is baffling — a genuine head-scratcher.

It is important to understand exactly why.