John Yoo | Trump's Legal Troubles

John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Among his many books include The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court (2023, with Robert Delahunty) and Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power (2020). In addition to publishing more than 100 academic articles, Professor Yoo regularly contributes to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Review, among others.

Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman.

His talk discusses the legal controversies surrounding former President Donald Trump, focusing specifically on his actions leading up to and following January 6, 2021. This discussion transcends personal opinions of Trump and examines the broader implications for the U.S. legal and political landscape.

We explore the unprecedented nature of Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results, his attempts to influence the electoral vote count, and his speech ahead of the Capitol riot. Equally, the lecture scrutinizes the unparalleled response from legal institutions, described as 'lawfare' - the use of legal systems to achieve political ends. Through this lens, we discuss the historical restraint shown towards prosecuting former presidents and question the implications of abandoning such precedents.

The talk is designed to unravel the complexities of relying on legal systems to address political issues that, in the past, were solved through more traditional political means, such as diplomacy and statesmanship.

Visit the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government: https://constudies.nd.edu/

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The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the University of Notre Dame, the College of Arts and Letters, or the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.

#law #lawandpolitics #politicalscience #constitutionallaw #election