Reading Room Document

Refusals by Executive Branch to Provide Documents From Open Criminal Investigative Files to Congress

Written in response to a dispute between the Department of Justice and Senator Grassley over documents of the ongoing criminal investigation of the General Dynamics, this memo excerpts from two previous OLC opinions a list of historical precedents involving the president invoking executive privilege. The memo suggests that these precedents prove that the president and his subordinates have historically viewed the disclosure of open investigative files as detrimental to the separation of powers. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at https://justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/pages/attachments/2014/12/30/1984-10-30_-_daag_shanks_-_open_crim_investig_files_ocr.pdf.

October 30, 1984