Trump told 4 former aides to oppose the committee’s subpoena on Jan. 6

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The letter stated the committee sought materials covered by the executive privilege, as well as other privileges.

President Trump is prepared to defend these key privileges in court, ”the letter said.

The letter then instructed its recipient to withhold any documents about his work in the White House and refused to testify about his official duties.

The letter began the first major political and legal trial for the select committee, which is investigating Trump supporters ’violent attacks on the Capitol. It’s unclear how the committee will try to enforce the subpoenas of Trump’s four-sided allies, but panel members who include seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans said they could ask the Justice Department to charge witnesses who refuse to comply.

It also remains to be seen whether former Trump officials will follow Trump’s instructions. If they are convicted of criminal contempt in Congress, they could face a year in prison and a fine of up to $ 100,000.

Investigating the attack that resulted in injuries to more than 150 police officers is a top priority for Congressional Democrats.

Trumps move could also create a problem for the Biden administration. Most presidents hate to undermine executive privilege, the vaguely defined right for presidents to talk to their advisers without worrying those conversations might be public at another day.

The Constitution does not mention the concept, but the courts have ruled it out. Presidents sometimes insisted it was to protect their advisers from complying with congressional subpoenas.

The White House clarified its stance on asserting executive privilege regarding the committees ’requests on Jan. 6 last month after press secretary Jen Psaki said a decision was made to not protect any Trump era records . Following that comment by Psaki, a White House spokesman said the Biden administration would actually make those calls on a case -by -case basis.

However, POLITICO experts said they suspect the Bidens White House advice office could assert the privilege on Trump’s behalf in some cases. That’s because weakening executive privilege extensively could create problems for Biden on the road. The Meadows subpoena is particularly sensitive; the idea of ​​congressional investigators from the opposition party grilling a White House staff chief was a nightmare scenario for most presidents.

At the same time, Meadows likely had detailed knowledge of Trumps behavior before and during the Jan. 6 attack and was backstage at the #StopTheSteal rally at the National Mall where Trump spoke before the siege of the Capitol.

Experts are divided on the question of how former presidents can have the same privilege. David Rivkin, a former lawyer for the administration of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, told POLITICO that only sitting presidents can express executive privilege.

He could question the assertion of privilege to be made by the sitting president, Trump’s Rivkin added.

And Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a member of the select committee, also weighed in on this issue. There is no such thing as a former executive president’s privilege, he told The Washington Post. That was too dilute and not really relevant.

But that is not a consensus. Saikrishna Prakash, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said this conflict enters legal uncharted territory and the Supreme Court found that former presidents were satisfied with executive privilege, somehow.

Imagine you were talking to President Biden in the last two months of his presidency, Prakash said. Would you give him explicit advice if you knew it would come out in two months, that the privilege would expire in two months? No, you might not.

A Trump spokesman greeted the committee in a statement.

The highly discriminatory, Communist -style select committee issued an overly widespread request for records that lacked both legal primary and legislative merit, Taylor Budowich, Trump’s director of communications, said in a statement.

The privilege of the executive will be defended, not only on behalf of President Trump and his administration, but also on behalf of the Office of the President of the United States and the future of our country. Fake News continues to take the bait of Democrats, who are desperately trying to distract the country from this bogus process.

Regardless, Trump’s letter will delight his supporters. The Guardian reported Wednesday that Trump planned to mention executive privilege to direct the four men not to comply, and Newsmax outsider Grant Stinchfield cheered on the move.

This is what you get from President Trump, Stinchfield said. You got a man fighting. You understand me? The president fought back. That’s what we like about President Trump, and he’s sticking it to these people who are trying to follow him.

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