A former President Donald Trump instructed four of his associates to refuse subpoenas that were issued in the last week by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6. Capitol attack, as per several media outlets.
The documents sought from the panel were to be submitted on Thursday and the four associates -- including which were former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows -were asked to testify in front of the panel on October. 14 and 15.
Politico as well as The Washington Post reported Thursday that they had viewed an unpublished letter Trump wrote to his lawyer. In the letter, Trump reportedly signaled that he plans to take action in order to stop subpoenas aimed toward Bannon, Meadows, former White House social media chief Dan Scavino and former Defense Department official and House Intelligence Committee aide Kash Patel.
All four witnesses were working at the Trump White House or communicating with the Trump administration during the time preceding attacks in Capitol Hill. U.S. Capitol.
In his letters to each one of each of them Trump reported that he cited executive privilege as which is a unclear concept that states that presidents are entitled to withhold information and communication that could be of interest to the general public or Congress. This is not explicitly stated in the Constitution however, the courts have generally accepted the notion that personal opinions and suggestions are protected by executive privilege. In other words, anyone who talks with the president privately could be worried about the implications of their statements being public.
In the court system the privilege of executive power is typically evaluated on a case-by case basis.
"President Trump is prepared to defend these fundamental rights in the courtroom," the letters said according to Politico.
It's not clear how the committee, nor department, or Department of Justice, will respond to subpoenas that are not answered.
Select Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) stated in each of his September. 23 emails to witnesses that the committee is "investigating the circumstances, facts and motives of the attack on January 6th as well as issues that relate to peaceful transfers of power in order to discover and analyze the lessons learned to make recommendations that the House and its committees relevant to it appropriate laws and procedures, policies or rules."
Thompson's committee already took steps to gain access on the communications of The Trump White House relating to the attack. In August, the committee sent an extensive request for records at the National Archives, which handles the presidential files, as well as various federal authorities, asking for documents.
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