A federal court judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot invoke executive privilege to block all presidential communications he made in relation to the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riots.
In her 39-page ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, wrote that “The (executive) privilege is not absolute. It exists for the benefit of the Republic, not any individual.”
“Accordingly,” she continued, ‘the presumption can be overcome by an appropriate showing of public need by the judicial or legislative branch.”
Referring to Trump, Chutkan wrote, “Plaintiff does not acknowledge the deference owed to the incumbent President’s judgment. His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power ‘exists in perpetuity.’ But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”
Chutkan’s decision rested largely on laws and court arguments made after the presidency of Republican Richard Nixon. Nixon sought to destroy recordings he made in the Oval Office. When Congress moved to stop him, he invoked executive privilege.
Executive privilege is a presidential power that bars the president’s communications from being shared with Congress.
The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden said that it would consider Trump’s invocation of executive privilege on a case-by-case basis to determine whether or not to withhold Trump’s communications from the congressional January 6 commission.
In response, Trump sued to keep the records private. Chutkan’s ruling represents the court decision in the dispute between Trump and the Biden administration over these records.
