Question

The term executive privilege originated with?

Answer 1

The term executive privilege originated with Richard Nixon's presidency after Nixon explicitly refused to hand over recorded tapes of himself speaking to associates as part of a criminal investigation. Since the executive, rather than the legislative or judicial, can direct the actions of a criminal investigation, this (hypothetically) gives the president the ability to control an investigation of his or her own government. The Supreme Court, in a later legal decision, determined that Nixon did not have this right, officially curtailing executive privilege for the first time.