United States v. Nixon

418 U.S. 683 (1974)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

This was a criminal prosecution against seven defendants on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States and to obstruct justice. The grand jury named President Nixon as an unindicted co-conspirator. The Special Prosecutor obtained a subpoena duces tecum requiring the production of certain tapes, memoranda, and other writings relating to precisely identified meetings between the President and others. The President moved to quash the subpoena. The motion was accompanied by a formal claim of privilege. The District Court denied the motion to quash and the motions to expunge and for protective orders. The District Court rejected jurisdictional challenges based on a contention that the dispute was nonjusticiable because it was between the Special Prosecutor and the Chief Executive and hence 'intra-executive' in character; it also rejected the contention that the Judiciary was without authority to review an assertion of executive privilege by the President. The court's rejection of the first challenge was based on the authority and powers vested in the Special Prosecutor by the regulation promulgated by the Attorney General; the court concluded that a justiciable controversy was presented. The District Court held that the judiciary, not the President, was the final arbiter of a claim of executive privilege. The court concluded that, under the circumstances of this case, the presumptive privilege was overcome by the Special Prosecutor's prima facie 'demonstration of need sufficiently compelling to warrant judicial examination in chambers. . . .' The court held, finally, that the Special Prosecutor had satisfied the requirements of Rule 17(c). The District Court stayed its order pending appellate review.