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Trump to exercise executive privilege to prevent investigators from getting information on Capitol riots

The letters asked recipients not to comply with congressional investigators

USA-TRUMP/LAWYERS Former US president Donald Trump | Reuters

 Former President Donald Trump, on Thursday, said that he will exercise his executive privilege to prevent a House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol from getting information from certain witnesses.

CNN reported that one of Trump’s attorney’s sent letters to some of the subpoena targets, informing them of his plan to defend executive privilege. 

 The letter, which was reviewed by the Washington Post, was sent to former Trump adviser Dan Scavino, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former adviser Steve Bannon and Kash Patel, a former chief of staff to then-Acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller.

Patel said he would not confirm whether he had received a letter from Trump's attorney or how he plans to respond to the subpoena, but told CNN, “I will continue to tell the American people the truth about January 6, and I am putting our country and freedoms first through my Fight with Kash initiative”.

The subpoena letters asked the recipients not to comply with congressional investigators, but also said it was up to each witness to decide whether to follow Trump’s instruction. 

Rep. Pete Aguilar, a member of the select panel said that it is not Trump's place to decide what information is covered by executive privilege.

 “The former President, it is not his role to claim privilege. That is the current occupant in the White House,” he said.

 This summer, when former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and other top former Justice Department officials testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on events leading up to the January 6 attack, Trump and his legal team sought the White House to assert privilege. When Biden waived privilege and current Justice Department authorities cleared the way for the former officials' testimony, Trump didn't try to intervene. Pro-Trump witnesses could plead the Fifth Amendment or the right to not increment themselves. They could also simply refuse to testify, go to court or dare the committee to use the Justice Department or judges to enforce the subpoena.

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