Reading Room Document

Further Research on the Subpoena of the President by the California State Court

In this brief memo, the OLC assessed the novel question of the ability of a state court to subpoena the president. The OLC stated that the outcome was unclear because no state court had yet subpoenaed a president. In Nixon v. Sirica the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit foreclosed the theory that a president would be totally immune from federal grand jury subpoenas. Because the Sirica decision recognized the existence of executive privilege with regard to other matters, the OLC suggested that the executive branch could argue that the president would not be forced to comply, asserting federal supremacy alongside the general argument––unsuccessful in Sirica––that the presidency should not be disturbed by lawsuits.

January 31, 1974