Six post-Trump reforms to help protect the rule of law

When Trump leaves office, the damage he caused must be fixed and the possibility of future abuse urgently checked. At least six problems require attention.

1. The next administration will immediately face the fraught question of whether and how to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute possible crimes Trump committed while in office.

2. One challenge in investigating possible presidential crimes is that it is unclear how current statutes on obstruction of justice apply to the president.

3. Congress should reform the pardon power that Trump has abused (and threatens to abuse further).

4. The special counsel regulations that governed Mueller’s investigation need reform. A special counsel is a quasi-independent investigator who examines possible wrongdoing by senior executive-branch officials.

5. The Justice Department needs to amend its internal rules and guidelines to clarify that obstruction-of-justice statutes apply to improperly partisan law enforcement actions by department officials and that any such actions that fall short of obstruction of justice nonetheless violate department norms.

6. The Justice Department should reform its rules on investigations such as the one Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham is conducting into the investigation of the Trump 2016 campaign’s possible contacts with Russia.

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