# Presidential Prosecution - Why is there such a gaping void in our constitution?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-prosecution-why-is-there-such-a-gaping-void-in-our-constitution/789120>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 16, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-prosecution-why-is-there-such-a-gaping-void-in-our-constitution/789120 "2017-06-16T15:11:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/presidential-prosecution-why-is-there-such-a-gaping-void-in-our-constitution/789120/3 "2017-06-16T15:47:34Z")

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> [@KidCharlemagne](#):
>
> It appears our Founding Fathers took every precaution to make sure our democracy didn’t devolve into tyranny except one of the most important ones: Getting rid of a bad president. Why, especially after Nixon, are we still in murky territory as to whether a president can be criminally prosecuted? Why is there such a blatant loophole allowing a president to fire those investigating him? Isn’t that a pretty fricking important question to answer before we get there? I just find this all a bit mind-blowing. Also why should the question of a president’s guilt ultimately ride on the political question of impeachment rather than some body in the judicial branch? What’s the best remedy for these issues in your opinion?

You seem to want to disregard the obvious answer: it’s clear that a President can be removed by one-half of the House and two-thirds of the Senate.

And if you think the House and Senate themselves are complicit, the people themselves can replace each and every House member in no more than two years, along with a third of the Senate. In four years, two-thirds of the Senate may be replaced, plus the President himself is out.

Now, there used to be a law that allowed the appointment of an independent prosecutor, who the President could not fire.

However, when Ken Starr held that role, Democrats did not like the fact that the President could not fire the independent counsel, and the law was permitted to expire without renewal. Remember Ken Starr?

So I’d suggest that the heart of your complaint is: “Other people don’t share my opinion about how important it is to get rid of this president!”

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