President Donald Trump’s arguments against his impeachment were thrown back at administration lawyers in yet another court case on Thursday as the House and Justice Department battled over records related to the now-abandoned effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
During a three-hour-plus argument session about Trump’s claim of executive privilege to block disclosure of the census-related files, House lawyers again highlighted what they see as an obvious tension created by complaints from Trump and his attorneys that the House failed to adequately pursue court action to get testimony and documents that Democrats are now urging the Senate to seek as part of the ongoing impeachment trial.
Despite those comments faulting the House for failing to resort to the courts, Justice Department attorneys have persisted in their longstanding position that the Constitution gives courts no role in refereeing executive privilege fights between the White House and Congress.
“It is President Trump’s view that the House should have come to court,” House lawyer Meghan Barbero said, citing arguments from Trump lawyers Jay Sekulow and Kenneth Starr faulting the House for failing to initiate court action to enforce subpoenas and instead impeaching Trump for defying Congress’ demands for information.
@POLITICO
