Trump is in a 'seriously tough spot' with Biden blocking his executive privilege claim: CNN legal analyst
On CNN Wednesday, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig broke down the difficulties former President Donald Trump will face in trying to assert executive privilege over communications with officials subpoenaed by the House January 6 Committee.
"Just regarding the news from Kaitlan Collins that the White House formally rejected the request to assert executive privilege," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "Absent an intervening court order. Do you think this will end — ultimately, end up with a, you know, a legal fight?"
"I do think it will, Anderson," said Honig. "This move by the Biden administration puts Donald Trump in a very tough spot. Now, Trump has two options. One, he can do nothing and let it be which means 30 days from now, those documents go over to the committee. Or two, Trump can go to court and ask a court to block those documents from going over. But that's a serious uphill climb, legally."
Honig then proceeded to explain how Trump's demand lacked legal precedent.
"It's fairly clear that while a former president can have some say in executive privilege, generally speaking, it's the current president who gets to decide," said Honig. "That makes sense. We've actually seen Barack Obama and George W. Bush exercise or not exercise executive privilege on behalf of their predecessor. So Trump's got a serious uphill climb. It seems the real object here, Anderson, is to get it in the courts and delay. And we have seen courts take months, even years, to resolve these disputes in the past. Courts need to do better, they need to do it quicker. They need to prioritize if these cases land before them so they don't drag on forever."
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