Not sure if the article makes this link clear:
“In the face of the Committee’s threatened contempt vote, the Attorney General will be compelled to request that the President invoke executive privilege with respect to the materials subject to the subpoena. I hereby request that the Committee hold the subpoena in abeyance and delay any vote on whether to recommend a citation of contempt for noncompliance with the subpoena, pending the President’s determination of this question.”
(Quote is from AAG Boyd’s letter.)
The extreme innocence and exoneration contained in the report would be simply too ginormously exonerating for the public to see even a glimpse of it, press secretary Swamp thing told reporters.
Coequal branch is under no obligation to defer, of course. Please proceed, Mr Nadler.
They are blatantly obstructing justice in broad daylight like it’s their job. Impeachment must be on the table.
Oh, FFS. They’re not even trying to pretend not to be corrupt.
Lock LowBarr up a.s.a.p. And throw Spankee and his Evil Spawn in the next cell.
Are there similar privileges for judicial and legislative branches?
It’s pretty much hornbook law that executive privilege does not apply to criminal investigations. And Mueller was hardly giving advice to Trump. Not to mention that any privilege claim has been waived for almost all of the report.
Trump is looking more and more guilty. I know that that is hardly meaningful to TPM readers, but there are people out there whose faith in him is being worn down by his tactics. And there’s still 18 months before Election Day.
The report is just SO totally exonerating that it will embarrass our shy, humble president if it’s released.
Well, it’s good news on two fronts. It means the release of the full report can now start moving through the courts instead of endless stalling (as mentioned above). And it gives Dems more ammo to ask “What is he hiding?” If it exonerates him, why not expose all the information?
It’s a good talking point for all the 2020 candidates, and it will have legs as an issue for months to come. I’m a little surprised Barr didn’t negotiate a “Gang of 8 Eyes Only” release of the full report, to get all this behind Trump earlier. It’s bad political strategy for the R’s. I don’t think McConnell’s claim that “it’s over” is getting much traction.
Nadler Vs Barr - Jowlspocalypse!
This is a Game Barr is playing thinking that he can scare Congress not to charge him with Contempt, but if the DOJ ask the White House to invoke executive privilege to hold back the Mueller Report, Congress should move ahead with Impeachment. There must be some pretty damaging information in that report for Barr to pull this stunt. That and it may show he lied to Congress.
I do not understand how he can even claim executive privilege on the report. It is no way a confidential report, conversation, written for Trump.
IANAL, but it did seem that executive privelege wouldn’t apply here. As far as we know, Mueller did not talk with Trump and that the info that could fall under the privelege was given to Mueller without objection from the White House. I didn’t think that executive privelege could be applied retroactively.
Barr, you are just making your case worse. God, he’s a dumbass
The Committee will also take a hard look at the officials who are enabling this cover up.
How many Borks are working at the DoJ?
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Yes, courts should not allow “executive privilege” to shield (discussions about) criminal conduct.
Other than that, however, as previously explained, courts have allowed it to cover …
"deliberative process" within the Executive branch,
even when the President is not personally involved.
The investigation was deliberate, and proceeded deliberately, but it was not a deliberative process. Deliberative process is a back-and-forth discussion of policy issues. Not a criminal investigation.
Plus there’s the issue of waiver all over the place throughout the Mueller investigation. Trump has been very strategically not asserting executive privilege, going all the way back to Dan Coats and Mike Rogers appearing before committees in 2017. I think they’ve been afraid to assert it because that would trigger Congress to litigate it and then it would (likely) be clear that Trump is trying to assert it in places where it doesn’t apply.
A judge should call their bluff and say, “You haven’t asserted it in two-plus years. You’ve waived it. Go suck an egg.”