Reading Room Document

Executive privilege

This opinion articulated the OLC’s argument in defense of executive privilege, which it traced to 1792. The opinion explained that the “underlying rationale” for the privilege was that “in the area of executive decision-making the President must be free to receive from his advisers their candid opinions without the fear that they will be second-guessed either by Congress, the press, or the public.”

April 10, 1972