Trump Oversight Requests Need to Pass a Simple Test
The House will likely receive the president’s financial records, but won’t hear from McGahn.
Let’s go another round.
Photographer: Al Drago/BloombergYou practically need a scorecard to keep up with all the conflicts between Congress and President Donald Trump over executive privilege. At last count, a federal district court has required Trump’s accountants to pass along documents connected to his taxes. Meanwhile, the administration is withholding the returns themselves on the basis of a claim of privilege. And Trump has directed former White House counsel Donald McGahn not to respond to a House subpoena requiring him to testify about episodes he described to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Fortunately, there’s a handy-dandy principle you can rely upon to determine when Congress should win and when the president should.