The standoff is engaged. Donald Trump has asked four former advisers not to cooperate with the parliamentary committee investigating the Jan.6 assault on Capitol Hill by supporters of the former president, US media reported Thursday.
Ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows, ex-security adviser Kashyap Patel, ex-social media manager Dan Scavino and ex-adviser Steve Bannon each received a letter from a lawyer for the billionaire Republican advising them not to respond to summons from the committee, according to the Washington Post and the Politico site.
Donald Trump’s legal team advance in its letters that its archives and communications are protected by the prerogatives of the executive to keep certain information secret, or by the professional secrecy which binds a lawyer to his client.
Legal uncertainty
The House of Representatives Committee of Inquiry ordered the four men to provide it with documents and testify before it to determine whether the actions of the Trump administration may have encouraged a host of supporters of the former president to take storm Congress and halt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory on January 6.
Uncertainty remains as to the legal possibility that Donald Trump can invoke this professional prerogative or professional secrecy to prevent his former advisers from testifying. The current administration has indicated that it will partially lift the confidentiality of the Trump-era records to help the investigation run smoothly. His attempt to block could in any case force the commission to take legal action to enforce his subpoenas, which would slow down the investigation.
“The former president continues to try to obstruct the subpoenas,” tweeted elected Democrat and commissioner Adam Schiff. “This time, witnesses who have violated the law must consider the possibility of criminal prosecution,” he warned. “Americans deserve answers. We will make sure we get them. “