DOJ memo inadvertently exposes roadmap for investigating Trump: expert

The Justice Department (DOJ) faced widespread scrutiny Tuesday over a new memo designed to shield President Donald Trump's communications from public view, but one legal expert argued it may have inadvertently told Democrats exactly where to investigate should they retake control of Congress in November.

On Monday, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo containing a newly formed legal opinion that the president could assert executive privilege over communications with “private” and outside advisers, so long as they related to “official presidential decision-making.” In essence, the DOJ argued that requests for executive communications would not apply to Trump's private communications in certain circumstances.

“Donald Trump is scared. He knows accountability is coming,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Tuesday in a statement published on social media.

“He’s using his newly installed Attorney General/personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to cover up his communications with private advisers and special interest cronies. These are the actions of someone with something to hide. And it shows he is petrified of the questions a Democratic Congress will demand answers to.”

While a number of other Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage over the move, one legal expert – former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance of Alabama – flagged a potential silver lining in the DOJ’s new legal opinion.

"This, of course, runs contrary to the [Supreme] Court’s construct of the privilege for ‘official’ acts,” Vance wrote Tuesday in a social media post on X, referring to the DOJ's new memo. “But interestingly, it may hint at what Trump sees as his vulnerabilities, and those of others.”

A plan currently being prepared by House Democrats supports Vance’s suspicion that Trump’s communications with private citizens could be a key focus of any post-midterm investigations into his administration. Rather than press for transparency from the White House, House Democrats are preparing to instead target Trump-linked businesses, which they suspect will prove easier to crack than the West Wing.