Page "President of the United States" Paragraph 24

Historically, two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy.

The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties.

George Washington first claimed privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain.

While not enshrined in the Constitution, or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege.

When Richard Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon,, that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution.

When President Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones,, that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits.

These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined.

Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees, but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president.