One Branch of the Federal Government Infringing On the Powers of Another Branch

Executive of the United States to Hinder Investigation by Judiciary on the Russias Involvement In the 2016 United States Presidential Elections

A government is a group of people or a system put in place in an organized community to issue guidance and direction to society. Governing or ruling upon the people requires people to specialize on a particular aspect and offer the best of what they can do. In so doing, there is the satisfaction of the society and hence cohesiveness in the community. Such specialty leads to the formation of the branches of government. They form three broad departments which include the legislative branch, the executive branch and the judicial branch of government. Each of these departments has a defined role which they must play to ensure the society lives in harmony.

The legislative branch of government deals in the formations of laws. In some countries, the legislature declares war, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, control taxing, and spending policies, passing of national budget and investigates matters of national interest especially corruption in government or by government officials. The executive, on the other hand, consists of the president, their legal advisors, cabinet secretaries, various departments and their respective agencies. The work of the executive is to enforce the laws passed by the legislature. Lastly, the judicial branch of government the role of the judiciary is to interpret the laws passed by the legislature and maintain a check and balance in various government branches.

Despite the definition of the different roles of the different branches of government, players in the various sector of government overreach in their mandate. They start doing things that undermine or frustrates different branches of the nation. The legislature, on the one hand, may pass laws or limit the budgetary allocations to the judiciary when the judiciary does not play to their tune. The judiciary also can squash laws and other proceedings in the legislative house, thereby reducing their mandate or terminating it in totality. The executive has many avenues of interfering with the two branches of government. They may use proxies in the legislatures to pass laws that favor them. They may also use intimidation and their constitutional powers to hinder the various processes.

After the 2016 United States Presidential elections, allegations started flying around that there was Russian interference in the presidential elections. The beneficiary of the alleged intervention is the current president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. The first person to try and uncover the truth behind the allegations is the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director, James Comey. The director's investigations were, however, short-lived as he started getting interference from the White House. James Comey claims that the president, himself, asked him to turn a blind eye on the allegations and let them just slide away. James did not do as requested by the president and in return, the president pressured him to resign.

After James resignation, a new team was set up to investigate the allegations headed by former FBI head Robert Muller. Muller is still investigating the Russian involvement which is now no longer allegations. There is the mentioning of many nearby alleys to President Donald Trump and their linking to the crime. It, then, casts a shadow of doubt on the legitimacy of the presidency of president Trump. The president has, however, come out to actively oppose the prosecution of his buddies. He has even gone ahead to state that he has the presidential powers to pardon himself and those being investigated. It shows the executive is infringing on the power of the judiciary. The president has also gone ahead to show what he can do with such powers by pardoning the former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio. Such move shows that the president is not only preparing to pardon his accomplices and himself but also willing to do so in blatant ignorance of the law and other branches of government.

The impending and blocking an investigation by the senior most member of the executive branch is directly infringing on the judicial process. Even though the investigative people and judges may have the security of tenure, the executive can pressure them to resign from their position blocking such a process. The president can also go ahead to public insult and malign the investigating officers which create a shadow of doubt of what they are investigating.

Bibliography

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Mark Greenberg, and Harry Litman. Can Trump pardon his way out of trouble after the Manafort indictment Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2017. http://www.latimes.com/

Opinion/op-ed/la-one-Litman-Greenberg-mana for-Mueller-indictment-20171030-story.html

Sean Illing, 10 legal experts on why Trump can't pardon his way out of the Russia investigation. Vox, November 1, 2017. https://www.vox.com/2017/8/29/16211784/

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United States House of Representatives "Branches of Government" 2017 https://www.house.gov/content/learn/branches_of_government/

Zack Beauchamp. How Paul Manafort's arrest fits into Robert Mueller's Russian investigation. Vox, October 30, 2017. https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/24/ 16008272/robert-Mueller-FBI-trump-Russia-explained