Posted on 05/07/2019 9:17:13 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
The White House has ordered former White House counsel Don McGahn not to turn over documents to Congress because President Trump may exert executive privilege to block their release.
Pat Cipollone, the top White House lawyer, wrote a Tuesday letter asking the House Judiciary Committee to go through the White House to request documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“The White House provided these records to Mr. McGahn in connection with its cooperation with the special counsel's investigation and with the clear understanding that the records remain subject to the control of the White House for all purposes,” Cipollone wrote to House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).
“The White House records remain legally protected from disclosure under longstanding constitutional principles, because they implicate significant executive branch confidentiality interests and executive privilege,” Cipollone added.
While the letter stops short of invoking privilege, which keeps private conversations between the president and his advisers from public view, it suggests the White House might take that step to block McGahn’s testimony, which could trigger a major legal battle with congressional Democrats investigating Trump.
Democrats and some legal experts say the White House lost its ability to invoke privilege over McGahn when it allowed the former counsel to speak to the special counsel’s office, which then published a report containing the details of his testimony. Trump decided against making privilege assertions over the contents of the report.
Nadler issued a subpoena for documents and public testimony from McGahn last month following the release of Mueller’s report and set a 10 a.m. deadline on May 7 for McGahn to respond to the document request.
A committee spokesman did not immediately return The Hill's request for comment on the White House letter Tuesday.
Trump has said he expects to decide this week whether to invoke executive privilege to block McGahn’s testimony, but has given every indication that he intends to do so. He has maintained that McGahn’s cooperation with the special counsel’s investigation was sufficient, and suggested he could not allow the former White House counsel testify and later prevent other officials from doing the same.
Nadler had requested that McGahn appear to testify publicly before the committee on May 21.
The letter represents the latest effort by Trump’s White House to stonewall probes in the Democrat-led House — Trump has pledged to fight “all the subpoenas” and accused Democrats of “presidential harassment.”
ETC...
Eric Holder has no comment
Good! Screw the Democrats!
Yawn. More garage from “The Hill” of trash.
Enough. Is. Enough.
F* the sore losers who are STILL trying to overturn the 2016 election results.
“The White House records remain legally protected from disclosure under longstanding constitutional principles, because they implicate significant executive branch confidentiality interests and executive privilege,” Cipollone added.”
Geez, he could have used a better word than “implicate”
From New Oxford American Dictionary:
implicate: show (someone) to be involved in a crime
Personally I think every time they Demand something, President Trump should DeClassify and Release some Damning Evidence of the Attempted Coup, which MANY Members of Congress were complicit in.
The assertion of privilege is a good way to gum up the works and delay and perhaps deprive Nadler of some of his preferred witnesses. And Trump has a fair shot at winning the issue.
I agree. I think that complicity has a lot to do with the 40+ republicans “retiring” in 2018.
Agree. “Cover” or “predicate” or “postulate” would have been better.
Until the counter-battery response has them all ducking for cover (FISA release and Barr's counter-offensive investigations).
Executive privilege....and everyone knows it.
I agree! The Democrats need to start being put in a defense mode, answering to release after release of evidence of their attempts to overthrow a legal election and the use of federal justice and intelligence resources against private citizens. Republicans need to go on the OFFENSE!!!
Yup. The Trump — Barr counter blow will have to be a haymaker though in order to fully refute the Russian collusion narrative. For too many, it has become an article of faith.
When do we get to the good part of the story where they hang all of the traitors, starting with the lawyers?
The rats are urinating in the wind . . . and getting wet.
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