congress politics jan-6 steve-bannon
Why did Donald Trump waive executive privilege allowing Bannon to testify
<p>I was wondering why Donald Trump would waive Bannon's executive privilege in reference the the Jan 6th committees investigations. It doesn't seem like it would be in HIS best interest, especially if executive privilege truly could block Bannon from testifying/turning over documents etc. I know Trump said that it was in the country's best interest, but I find it hard to believe that is the reason why. If this was the only thing stopping Bannon from testifying, then from Trump's perspective, wouldn't it make more sense to impede the investigation as much as possible?</p>

<p>Donald Trump did not waive executive privilege: it was denied to him.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/trump-loses-big-executive-privilege" rel="noreferrer">Trump Loses Big on Executive Privilege</a> (Thursday, January 20, 2022) the Lawfare Institute says</p>
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<p>The Supreme Court Wednesday evening denied a motion by former President Trump to block the National Archive from turning White House materials to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. The peculiar, four-page order, is a complicated document, but in combination with the broad and underdiscussed D.C. Circuit opinion it leaves in place, it has profound implications for Trump’s ability, and that of his allies, to make executive privilege claims in response to demands for testimony and information from the committee.</p>
<p>On its face, the Supreme Court’s order yesterday appears to mitigate the consequences for Trump of a D.C. Circuit opinion that rejects a number of his key claims in resisting the committee. The D.C. Circuit opinion has been hanging around since early last month with little notice or discussion—probably because the Supreme Court was poised to jump in any time. But in fact, the Supreme Court action does not mitigate the matter for Trump.</p>
<p>Put simply, the former president, whether he knows it or not, is now in a dramatically weaker position than he was only recently with respect to the committee. The new legal landscape, for example, <strong>almost certainly means that two top Trump officials—former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadow and former top adviser Steve Bannon—can no longer argue that the privilege prevents them from cooperating</strong> with the committee. The same applies to other potential witnesses, and to the former president himself, should the committee seek his testimony. All, of course, may well continue to resist anyway—but if so, they proceed at much greater risk to themselves.</p>
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