Andrew P. Napolitano

Did Donald Trump obstruct justice?

When the Department of Justice designated Robert Mueller as special counsel to take over the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign in May 2017, Mr. Mueller's initial task was to determine if there had been a conspiracy — an illegal agreement — between the campaign and any Russians to receive anything of value.

April 24, 2019

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the linchpin of human existence

When America was in its infancy and struggling to find a culture and frustrated at governance from Great Britain, the word most frequently uttered in pamphlets and editorials and sermons was not "safety" or "taxes" or "peace"; it was "freedom." And two intolerable acts of Parliament assaulting freedom broke the bonds with the mother country irreparably, precipitating the Revolution.

April 17, 2019

If Robert Mueller found no evidence of conspiracy and obstruction, William Barr would have said so

When Attorney General William Barr released his four-page assessment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 400-page report, I was disappointed at many of my colleagues who immediately jumped on board the "no collusion" and "no obstruction" and "presidential exoneration" bandwagons.

April 10, 2019

Is the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional?

Here we go again. The legal battle over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act -- Obamacare -- will soon be back in court due to the largely unexpected consequences of a series of recent events.

April 3, 2019

Beyond the Barr revelation

Last Sunday afternoon, U.S. Attorney General William Barr released a letter, which he said summarized the report he had received from special counsel Robert Mueller about alleged crimes committed by President Donald Trump.

March 27, 2019

Can the president legally break the law?

Legal scholars have been fascinated for two centuries about whether an American president can break the law and remain immune from prosecution. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln ordered troops to arrest, without warrant, and incarcerate, without due process, many peaceful, law-abiding journalists and newspaper editors -- and even a member of Congress -- in the Northern states. Wasn't that kidnapping?

March 20, 2019

Can Congress amend the Constitution?

"Emergency does not create power. Emergency does not increase granted power or remove or diminish the restrictions imposed upon power granted or reserved. The U.S. Constitution was adopted in a period of grave emergency. Its grants of power to the federal government and its limitations of the power of the States were determined in the light of emergency, and they are not altered by emergency." — Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948)

March 13, 2019

President Trump’s bad week

In an ideal world, the president of the United States would succeed in negotiating a nuclear arms treaty with a foreign government.

March 6, 2019

‘Gun violence is the real emergency’

Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a group of supporters and journalists that in her view, gun violence is the real emergency. Such a statement, in the context in which she made it, should send shivers down the spines of all who believe in personal liberty protected by the U.S. Constitution.

February 27, 2019

Trump’s brazen unconstitutional overreach

Last week, President Donald Trump followed through on a threat he had been making for months. It was not a blistering or insulting tweet. It was not an attack on the press or congressional Democrats. It was an attack on the U.S. Constitution.

February 20, 2019

How the First Amendment protects a former White House communications aide and his book

While the public discourse has been consumed over the realization that abortion physicians actually let viable babies who survive late-term abortions die — as well as whether President Donald Trump or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will blink first over the issue of congressional authorization for building a wall at the country's southern border, to say nothing of the race-and-sex-infused mess at the top of the government in Virginia — a profound free speech issue has been bubbling below the radar.

February 13, 2019

Abortion and the right to stay alive

Much has been made lately of language in a recently enacted New York state statute that permits abortion up to the time of birth if necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. New Jersey has had the same provision for two generations via a regulation of the Board of Medical Examiners.

February 6, 2019

The FBI puts on its jackboots to humiliate one of Mueller’s suspects

Last Friday, on a quiet residential street at 6 in the morning, the neighborhood exploded in light, noise and terror. Seventeen SUVs and two armored vehicles arrived in front of one house. Each vehicle had sirens blaring and lights flashing. The house, which abutted a canal, was soon surrounded by 29 government agents, each wearing military garb, each carrying a handgun and most carrying high-powered automatic rifles.

January 30, 2019

Rudolph Giuliani muddies the water about conversations and tapes

Last week, the investigative arm of BuzzFeed sparked a media frenzy with a report claiming that two federal law enforcement sources had informed its reporters that Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former lawyer and confidant, had told special counsel Robert Mueller that Mr. Trump counseled him to lie to Congress about the status of Mr. Trump's attempts to build Trump Tower Moscow.

January 23, 2019

The FBI can investigate the president, but spying by government officials violates Fourth Amendment

Last weekend, The New York Times reported that senior FBI officials were so concerned about whatever President Donald Trump's true motivation for firing FBI Director James Comey was that they immediately initiated a counterintelligence investigation of the president himself.

January 16, 2019

‘Can the president alone build a border wall?’

When Donald Trump was looking for a catchy phrase during his 2016 presidential campaign to address the issue of immigrants entering the United States unlawfully — a line that would resonate with his supporters — he came up with the phrase "build the wall." The reference, of course, is to what Mr. Trump advertised would be a 30-foot-tall, thousand-mile-long Mexico-financed physical wall along our border with Mexico.

January 9, 2019

Robert Mueller, the economy and 2020 election have everyone guessing

Happy new year.

January 2, 2019

America at Christmas

What if Christmas is a core value of belief in a personal God who lived among us and His freely given promise of eternal salvation that no believer should reject or apologize for? What if Christmas is the rebirth of Christ in the hearts of all believers? What if Christmas is the potential rebirth of Christ in every heart that will have Him, whether a believer or not?

December 26, 2018

How Trump’s legal woes continue to grow

It seems that every time we look at the legal maneuverings that reflect upon President Donald Trump, the allegations of unlawful behavior by him add up. We know that two teams of federal prosecutors are examining his pre-presidential and his in-office behavior.

December 19, 2018

Trump may want the public to think that he is unfazed, but his presidency is in grave danger

Last week, federal prosecutors in Washington and New York filed sentencing memorandums with federal judges in advance of the sentencings of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen. President Donald Trump's former campaign manager and his former personal lawyer had pleaded guilty to federal crimes, and the memorandums, which are required by the federal rules of criminal procedure, set forth the prosecutors' desired prison sentences for them.

December 12, 2018