Date

Jun 21, 1989

Description

This OLC legal opinion written by Bill Barr asserts that the President “has the inherent constitutional authority to deploy the FBI to investigate and arrest individuals for violating United States law, even if those actions contravene customary international law.” The President can also order the FBI to “contravene unexecuted treaties or treaty provisions, such as Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter.” This secret legal opinion contradicted an earlier precedent from OLC.

Source

Department of Justice Office Electronic Reading Room, op-olc-v013-p0163_0.

Document published in following posting(s):

Imperial Prerogative: How the Panama Invasion and the “Barr Doctrine” Set the Stage for the Maduro “Snatch” Operation

Jan 16, 2026

William P. Barr, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Memorandum Opinion for the Attorney General, “Authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Override International Law in Extraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities,” June 21, 1989