The Jan. 6 congressional committee filed subpoenas for top aides and former advisers to ex-President Donald Trump followed by a group of 11 additional subpoenas. Behind the scenes, the former president is encouraging those folks to defy the subpoenas, Politico's Betsy Woodruff reported Thursday. It comes despite warnings that it could put them in the crosshairs of the Justice Department.
Woodruff viewed a letter that Trump's lawyers are sending to those subpoenaed, incorrectly claiming that everything they're being asked is protected by executive privilege.
President Joe Biden indicated that he won't allow the use of executive privilege to cover anything involving Jan. 6. But even if Biden was willing to, he couldn't, according to past Supreme Court decision in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, which ruled that "the privilege is not for the benefit of the President as an individual, but for the benefit of the Republic."
"President Trump is prepared to defend these fundamental privileges in court," the letter from Trump's lawyers said. It then told them to hold back any documents and refuse to testify.
Woodruff explained that it is the first major political-legal test for the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"If they are convicted of criminal contempt of Congress, they could face a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000," she wrote.
The report also said that the subpoena for former chief of staff Mark Meadows is a "nightmare scenario for most presidents." Biden, however, has been pretty clear that his administration would fight for all executive privilege that is protected under the law.