Donald Trump Invokes Executive Privilege To Block Release Of Unredacted Mueller Report

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege to prevent the release of the unredacted Mueller Report, stonewalling House Democrats’ efforts to obtain the unedited findings of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd confirmed Trump’s action in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), writing “that the President has asserted executive privilege over the entirety of the subpoenaed materials.” Boyd addressed Trump’s executive privilege as a “protective” measure to guarantee “the president’s ability to make a final decision whether to assert privilege following a full review of these materials.”

“Regrettably, you have made this assertion necessary by your insistence upon scheduling a premature contempt vote,” Boyd added in his letter. On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a debate as to whether they should hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for dismissing demands to release the unredacted Mueller report.

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Select individuals have been given the opportunity to view a less redacted iteration of the report, which the Justice Department has offered to allow more lawmakers access to. But House Democrats argue lawmakers should be privy to the whole, unredacted report, including those in the Judiciary and intelligence committees.

On Tuesday, the White House asked former White House Counsel Don McGahn (whose testimony to Mueller discussed Trump’s efforts to stop Mueller’s investigation) refused the House Judiciary Committee’s demand that he testify. McGahn, speaking through his attorney, said he is complying with the White House’s request.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement on the matter, defending Trump’s actions as needed to stop “Nadler’s blatant abuse of power.”

Statement on Executive Privilege pic.twitter.com/6ujCZDnMC0

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) May 8, 2019