Trump Will Not Assert Executive Privilege To Block Comey Testimony

Unlike President Obama, who attempted to assert executive privilege to deny Congress access to records pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious, President Trump will not exert executive privelege to block former FBI Director Comey"s testimony.

As we noted on Friday, while invoking executive privilege can be a politically treacherous move, recalling past scandals like Watergate, in which Nixon asserted the power in efforts to block congressional investigations, it is worth recalling that in 2012 none other than former President Barack Obama used the legal authority once, during congressional inquiries into the "Fast and Furious" scandal, after weapons ended up in the possession of Mexican gun cartels. Obama was later sued by Congress for his decision to block lawmakers from viewing documents related to the gun-running scandal. As Reuters further adds, "presidents can assert executive privilege to prevent government employees from sharing information. However, legal experts say it is not clear whether certain conversations between Trump and Comey that the president has talked about publicly would be covered, and any effort to block Comey, who is now a private citizen, from testifying could be challenged in court."

But now Bloomberg reports that President Donald Trump won’t use the power of his office to try to stop former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to the Senate on Thursday, a White House spokeswoman said.

NEW: "Pres. Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey"s scheduled testimony," Sarah Huckabee Sanders says. pic.twitter.com/H5QUlvf4Bp

— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 5, 2017

Principle Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Trump won’t invoke executive privilege to block Comey from speaking to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

• *TRUMP WON"T EXERT EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE FOR COMEY: WHITE HOUSE


• *TRUMP SEEKS SWIFT, THOROUGH DETERMINATION OF FACTS: SANDERS

He is expected to be asked about conversations with the president regarding Federal Bureau of Investigation probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, as well as his own May 9 firing.