# What happens is a sitting president refuses to obey a summons to appear in court? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-is-a-sitting-president-refuses-to-obey-a-summons-to-appear-in-court/814364 "2018-05-17T19:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-is-a-sitting-president-refuses-to-obey-a-summons-to-appear-in-court/814364/21 "2018-05-22T16:58:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > There is a legal aspect to this question, and there is a political one. The legal question can be answered factually, at least to some extent (and some posters have been providing such answers). What would actually happen is a political question, and thus would require speculation. But he asked it AS a factual question, which was my point, right? Indeed, I said so, referencing the idea of speculating (any attempt to answer the question with a “legal” response is simply speculating what would happen). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-is-a-sitting-president-refuses-to-obey-a-summons-to-appear-in-court/814364/22 "2018-05-22T17:54:58Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > By what means would he be removed from office, if not impeachment and subsequent conviction in the Senate? The 25th Amendment process, in which the Cabinet and Congress declare him “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”, which is even less likely. It happens a lot in Hollywood, though. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-is-a-sitting-president-refuses-to-obey-a-summons-to-appear-in-court/814364/23 "2018-05-22T22:38:13Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > But he asked it AS a factual question, which was my point, right? Indeed, I said so, referencing the idea of speculating (any attempt to answer the question with a “legal” response is simply speculating what would happen). The legal question is factual and legitimate for GQ. What would happen in the real world is speculative. If you don’t like the question, you don’t need to try to answer it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-is-a-sitting-president-refuses-to-obey-a-summons-to-appear-in-court/814364/24 "2018-05-22T22:50:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The 25th Amendment process, in which the Cabinet and Congress declare him “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”, which is even less likely. It happens a lot in Hollywood, though. Well, that depends on the circumstances. If the President were to have a stroke and lapse into a coma, for instance, the 25th might well be invoked. But just for “This guy’s policies are crazy, even though they’re similar to the policies we’ve been working towards and picked to the cabinet because of” probably isn’t too likely at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-is-a-sitting-president-refuses-to-obey-a-summons-to-appear-in-court/814364.md?page=1)