The federal prosecution of a former President fits the case
“[w]hen judicial action is needed to serve broad public
interests” in order to “vindicate the public interest in an
ongoing criminal prosecution.” Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 754.
The risks of chilling Presidential action or permitting meritless,
harassing prosecutions are unlikely, unsupported by history
and “too remote and shadowy to shape the course of justice.”
See Clark, 289 U.S. at 16.
We therefore conclude that
functional policy considerations rooted in the structure of our
government
do not immunize former Presidents from federal criminal prosecution.