Reading Room Document

Presidential Amenability to Judicial Subpoena

This opinion, written before the Nixon impeachment trial, examines the Judiciary's power to subpoena the president. The opinion concludes that while it is clear that the court has basic subpoena power against the president in some contexts, the rule and manner in which the subpoena might proceed must depend on the president's "special status" and the circumstances of the case. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/olc/page/file/1085331/download.

June 25, 1973