White House considers executive privilege to fight congressional requests despite claims it cannot – Washington Examiner

The White House indicated Wednesday it will claim executive privilege to prevent White House aides from testifying to Congress, despite assertions the claim was waived when aides were permitted to talk to special counsel Robert Mueller.

Among the first tests of the claim will be an effort to nix a subpoena by the House Judiciary Committee targeting former White House counsel Don McGahn.

“Executive privilege is on the table,” senior White House advisor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on the White House driveway. “That’s his right. There’s a reason our democracy and our constitutional government allow for that.”

Several congressional committees have opened investigations into Trump on various topics and are continuing the probes following last week’s release of the Mueller report. The report found Trump’s campaign did not collude with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, but did not determine whether obstruction of justice took place.

Some have argued that Trump already waived his right to executive privilege when he agreed to comply with the Mueller investigation, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who said in March that Trump had waived executive privilege rights “long ago.”

Ironically, George Conway, lawyer and husband to Kellyanne Conway, agreed, noting that some White House aides have already testified in front of Mueller and that Trump’s executive privilege rights are “absolutely waived.”

“So these aides were allowed to speak to Mueller for a purpose other than providing advice to the president or carrying out sensitive foreign-relations missions—the two principal purposes of executive privilege—and then a report summarizing what they told Mueller was released to the public. Any executive privilege has been waived. Twice,” George Conway tweeted.

Kellyanne Conway also said Wednesday that the White House had already been cooperative with investigations.

“There’s been a great deal of executive compliance,” she told reporters.

Trump on Wednesday also reiterated his intention to fight the investigations, calling congressional subpoenas “ridiculous.”