privilege, from Washington to Trump" How do Presidents deal with sensitive information requests from Congress? Sometimes they just say No, citing a right of executive privilege that doesn't technically exist in the Constitution. But just because the words 'executive privilege' aren't directly written in our founding document, doesn't mean the courts will refuse to recognize it as a legitimate right or power held by the President. President Richard Nixon sought to block Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski from getting access to unedited tapes of conversations made inside the White House. The recordings were believed to indicate a cover-up initiated by Nixon, instead, Nixon had supplied edited transcripts of the conversations and claimed executive privilege based on the idea that material that could endanger national security was on the tapes... But the concept of executive privilege was not absolute and still subject to judicial review. Again, the Burger decision quoted Chief Justice Marshall in his role as a judge in the Burr treason trial. "Marshall's statement cannot be read to mean in any sense that a President is above the law... Source: constitutioncenter.org According to the excerpt, why might a President claim executive privilege? Anytime the President wants to. If the material requested by Congress contains incriminating evidence against the President Because the President knows that executive privilege is not subject to judicial review If the material requested by Congress contains information important to national security.

One of the most important events in American History was the United States v. Nixon case. It was related to the very infamous Watergate Case and ultimately led to President Nixon's ouster. The administration under Nixon had tried to hide its involvement in the break-in of the Democratic National Committee, at Watergate. The entire case was so huge that it received public outcry and went to the Supreme Court and impacted the polity of America.