“There are good reasons to be vigilant about the rights of those called to testify or produce documents by grand juries and congressional committees. The McCarthy era demonstrated that both institutions can be abused to target dissidents and chill constitutional freedoms. But Trump makes no such claims. His objections to both the grand jury and congressional investigations ask the Supreme Court to exempt the president, even in his personal capacity, from the laws that apply to the rest of us. But the notion that neither a grand jury nor a congressional committee can even request records that may reveal private illegal conduct by the president, simply because he is the president, undermines two of the most fundamental principles of our constitutional system: that checks and balances are absolutely essential, and that no one is above the law.”
