It is September 2024 and the future of democracy is at stake. The United States is on the brink of a cyber war with the country of Bruinlandia. The President of the United States, Tommy Trojan, fears that the CEOs of the major social media platforms used by United States citizens will begin an onslaught of fake news in citizens’ social media feeds. In order to protect his people, President Trojan and his cabinet members concoct a plan to bribe, threaten, and blackmail the CEOs of the social media platforms so that they will turn over control of their websites to the government of the United States. In creating this plan, President Trojan and the members of his cabinet have met in recorded cabinet meetings and have exchanged numerous emails.
The plan is put into action; however, the CEOs do not concede power of their social media platforms to the United States government. In a dramatic next move, President Trojan issues an executive order ordering the NSA to seize control of all social media platforms on behalf of United States government. The CEO of MyFace, one of the social media platforms, sues President Trojan in federal court, seeking an injunction to stop him from seizing control of the websites. In the initial court filings, it is revealed that the CEO of MyFace suffered attempted bribes and threats from President Trojan. As such, a newly appointed special prosecutor decides to investigate President Trojan criminally, and obtains a subpoena requesting the tapes of the cabinet meetings and communications between President Trojan and his cabinet members about the plan. President Trojan plans to oppose the subpoena arguing executive privilege.
(1) What will come of President Trojan’s fate on the success of his executive order? [10 points]
(2) What will come of President Trojan’s fate on his opposition to the subpoena based on executive privilege? [10 points]
It’s later discovered that Bruinlandia was responsible for many of the fake news stories in citizens’ social media platforms. They admit to interfering with the last U.S. presidential election. President Trojan wants to invade Bruinlandia in response to their admission. Senior members of Congress have publicly stated that they will not vote for a declaration of war.
(3) Can President Trojan order an invasion of Bruinlandia despite Congress’ public declarations? If President Trojan ignores Congress, how should they respond? [10 points]
