Bipartisan Group of Former Lawmakers Files Brief Against Trump's Claim of Executive Privilege

https://www.politicususa.com/2021/10/29/bipartisan-group-of-former-lawmakers-files-brief-against-trumps-claim-of-executive-privilege.html

Posted on Fri, Oct 29th, 2021 by Jason Miciak
Bipartisan Group of Former Lawmakers Files Brief Against Trump’s Claim of Executive Privilege


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Sixty-six former lawmakers, including two dozen Republicans, have signed on to a legal brief urging a federal judge to reject former President Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing his White House’s records.

The brief, which is slated to hit the docket in the D.C. federal District Court on Friday, contends that no possible argument about executive privilege could overcome Congress’ need for documents to probe the violent attack on the Capitol — one fueled by Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

The Court is under no obligation to consider the brief because it comes from a non-party. But given that it was filed by a powerful and wide-ranging group, the brief will almost surely capture the court’s attention.

Executive privilege is a bit of a tricky area because most issues (pre-Trump) were settled privately between Congress and the White House. There is not a lot of definitive case law. Many speculate that the lack of court guidance owes itself to the fact that both parties are terrified of the possible answers.

The brief is also more powerful than the typical third-party brief because judges do not live in a vacuum, oblivious to national politics or events. The judge (and coming appellate judges) surely know that the current Republican lawmakers are under excruciating pressure to support Trump in the matter. But former lawmakers have the freedom to say, “We as former lawmakers know that Congress deserves the right to demand these documents.”

Of course, there is no evidence, yet, that Trump played any direct role in the insurrection, or that Trump’s need for secrecy is based upon the fear that direct or circumstantial evidence exists. What is known is that Trump’s feral survivability was always based upon a fortress of secrecy. The bridge to this one may be crumbling. And God only knows what might lay behind.