Powers of the President of the United States Richard Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed audio tapes to a special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in "United States v. Nixon" that privilege was not absolute. The Court reasoned that the judiciary’s interest in the “fair administration of criminal justice” outweighed President Nixon’s interest in keeping the evidence secret. Later President Bill Clinton lost in federal court when he tried to assert privilege in the Lewinsky affair. The Supreme Court affirmed this in "Clinton v. Jones", which denied the use of privilege in cases of civil suits.
Town Hall with President Clinton Town Hall with President Clinton On November 8, 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton participated in the first ever presidential webcast produced by Excite@Home Network in partnership with the Democratic Leadership Council. The forum was held at George Washington University in Washington DC, moderated by DLC chairman, Al From and directed by Marc Scarpa. The webcast made use of the most cutting edge, IP-enabled technology of the time including streaming video remote feeds that connected the President to New Democrat leaders, including Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, then Lt. Governor of Maryland; Donald T. Cunningham, Jr., then mayor of Bethlehem, PA; Wisconsin State