How quick will the appeal be filed?
A federal court judge has ruled that former President
Donald Trump cannot invoke executive privilege to block all presidential communications he made in relation to the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol riots.
In her 39-page ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, an appointee of Democratic former President
Barack Obama, wrote that "The (executive) privilege is not absolute. It exists for the benefit of the Republic, not any individual."
Executive privilege is a presidential power that bars the president's communications from being shared with
Congress. Chutkan said that Democratic
Joe Biden ultimately has the power to determine whether or not Trump's records should be withheld from Congress due to executive privilege.
"[Trump] does not acknowledge the deference owed to the incumbent President's judgment," Chutkan wrote. "His position that he may override the express will of the executive branch appears to be premised on the notion that his executive power 'exists in perpetuity.'
But Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."
Chutkan's decision rested largely on laws and court arguments made after the Watergate scandal of Republican President Richard Nixon.
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