Trump makes executive privilege threat as House committee seeks documents from agencies on January 6

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

26. "Executive privilege" was created so that a president could have honest conversations with advisers

without fear that Congress would be able to review those conversations. Despite the number of Trump subordinates who claimed executive privilege during hearings to avoid testifying, only the president can claim executive privilege.

Whether T**** can claim executive privilege now that he's out of office is problematic. He can't say he needs to protect his current conversations, because he's not in office. Whether he can do it retroactively probably depends on the purpose. If the privilege is being exercised to cover up criminal activity -- like with the Nixon tapes -- I doubt a court would accede to that argument. Of course, we're talking about the Roberts court, which has three T**** appointees, so it's a crap shoot as to what the ruling would be.

The thing we know about TFG is that he's a master at drawing out legal proceeding for as long as possible. Congress still hasn't gotten his tax returns, despite the SCOTUS ruling. Hopefully Congress can take the case directly to the Court and get an expedited ruling.

One final point: although he makes it a point to keep referring to himself as "president," on his letterhead, in his news releases, and even on the shield he mounts on his podium during press conferences, the truth is this -- Donald T**** is no longer president, has has only the rights any other civilian would have to claim executive privilege to presidential papers and conversations. That's my personal opinion; it will be interesting how this turns out.