Session's stonewalling: Does this DOJ document bear upon it ?

[steve2470]

https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/confidentiality-attorney-general’s-communications-counseling-president

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1982/08/31/op-olc-v006-p0481_0.pdf


I'm thinking IF it does.... Sessions will seize upon it. Any comments ? Hopefully this document doesn't provide him cover or I just found the wrong one.

[jmg257]

1. Sure seems like it.

[FlightRN]

2. We need our DU legal eyes to look at this

I hope the Trumpsters don't plaster this all over Twitter.

Although it's hard to find any two lawyers that seem to agree on anything that is being said or done by this admin on a daily basis. It's very confusing.

[steve2470]

4. agree about the legal eyes

I'm sure Trump, his minions and willfully ignorant supporters have already found this. Any competent law school student could find it, if I did with a Google search.

[marylandblue]

3. It probably works against him

It doesn't automatically give him the privilege he asserted. In fact it implies that there is no blanket assumption that all communications are automatically privileged unless the President says otherwise.

[steve2470]

5. thanks, good to hear that! nt

[jmg257]

7. It also says this:

The Supreme Court and lower federal courts have made clear that the presumption
of confidentiality accorded presidential communications is intended to
protect not only the substance of sensitive communications between the President
and his advisers but the integrity of the decision making process within the
Executive Branch as well....It is these concerns which justify the invocation of
executive privilege by the President, or, where appropriate, the heads of executive
departments, as well as the “deliberative process” privilege, which may
be claimed by any federal agency pursuant to exemption 5

[billh58]

6. The very last paragraph in this

"opinion" states:

The privileges available to protect the confidentiality of the Attorney General’s communications with the Office of the President can be roughly categorized into three classes, depending upon the nature of the communications for which the privilege is asserted, the interests which are sought to be protected by the claim of privilege, and the persons against whom the claim is made. This memorandum represents an effort by this Office to provide the Attorney General with a general outline of the privileges available to him to protect his confidential communications and working papers from compulsory disclosure when he believes that disclosure would be against the interests of the Department, the President, or the broader “ public,” and to provide guidelines for the assertion of those privileges. While the foregoing discussion should prove helpful in providing a framework for analysis of potential claims of privilege, we would caution that the applicability of any privilege to a given set of circumstances will almost always involve a judgment of competing values. While the Attorney General or the client must decide initially whether to assert the privilege, the task of resolving conflicts arising out of such competing values, in the final analysis, is one that is reserved to the courts.

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1982/08/31/op-olc-v006-p0481_0.pdf

It appears that while they can assert "privilege," the courts will make the final determination as to the validity of the claim. Trump and his henchmen don't have a good record with the courts lately.

[FlightRN]

8. Thank you

[MedusaX]

9. If anything, J-beau's Creative use/non-use/future retro active potential use of "privilege"

Has paved a yellow (possible intentional pun) brick road to the judiciary......
accompanied by a key to the (golden?) gate.....

As it may be necessary for the 3rd co-equal branch to determine who has the greater need...
Exec branch to withhold the info
Or
Legislative branch to have access to the info.

Elfkin's shenanigans Might actually be a gift.