As Donald Trump continues to insist that he retains executive privilege powers as a disgraced ex-president, his attorneys were shredded in federal court and made a stunning admittance.
Trump has previously lost prior court battles over his executive privilege claims, which are aimed at blocking the release of documents that would expose his role in the Capitol insurrection on January 6th.
President Joe Biden has also twice refused Trump’s requests that he invoke executive privilege to keep the documents hidden from the House January 6th Committee and the public.
Now appellate court judges are seemingly preparing to shoot down Trump’s executive privilege claim as well because his lawyers not only could not give sufficient reasons why a former president should be able to overrule the sitting president, they admitted that the documents Trump wants to block are damning in nature.
Wow. Trump lawyer Justin Clark just stepped in it with Judge Millett. He’s telling her that a former president could sue to stop a current president from using a previous administration’s records to conduct foreign policy and national security decision-making.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) November 30, 2021
Clark can’t give Millett a situation un which he thinks a court could let a current president use those documents under her hypothetical.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) November 30, 2021
“So to the extent that you find in that case, the right to come to court, to dispute the current president’s ability to release the records. I don’t see that in that case, because that’s not the circumstance. I also don’t necessarily see it in the statute,” Judge Jackson says
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) November 30, 2021
Indeed, the Constitution only grants the current president the power of executive privilege. No former president has ever tried to invoke executive privilege precisely because former presidents retain none of their presidential powers upon leaving office.
Judge Millet then noted that Trump has not made any specific assertions explaining why the documents must be blocked from being released, just like he did not present any specific evidence of election fraud in his lawsuits seeking to overturn the election.
Millett: Your thought is that without any guidance from the former president without any insights any declaration, any arguments from the former president, the court itself is supposed to go through and make arguments that the former president hasn’t as to individual documents…
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) November 30, 2021
…, that’s your position in this case?
Clark: I’m not sure I follow, your honor.
Millett: what arguments have has your client made or have you made in this case that says it’s an individual document…where is that in the record?
Clark: It’s not there yet.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) November 30, 2021
And then Clark admitted to the judges that the documents are potentially damning to Trump.
Clark: There are considerations such as if a document is going to be an embarrassment to a former president…or cause political turmoil…
(and there it is)
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) November 30, 2021
Clearly, the documents should be released to the House January 6th Committee, not only because former presidents do not have executive privilege powers, but also because the documents likely will expose Trump as a traitor to this nation who sought to overthrow our democracy.
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