Trump never understood the concept of executive privilege - he thinks he gets it in perpetuity for anything he did and anyone he talked to while he was in office. Nixon tried to abuse executive privilege and got smacked down by SCOTUS while he was still in office; Trump's trying to do it after leaving office. Trump's attorneys should have told him this wasn't going to fly, but they're apparently as dumb as he is (and for their sake, I hope they got paid up front - he doesn't pay his attorneys when they lose...).
This should make Steve Bannon's trial for contempt of Congress really interesting. His assertion of executive privilege as a reason to refuse to answer the subpoena, as weak as it was, just down in flames. |
