{"id":39402,"date":"2026-08-11T22:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=39402"},"modified":"2026-08-11T22:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:05:57","slug":"trumps-doj-lays-groundwork-for-subpoena-fights-with-a-democratic-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=39402","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#039;s DOJ lays groundwork for subpoena fights with a Democratic Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/LkonP0_kMcXb1w0nRS52YTmyJ3s=\/0x0:5472x3078\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/11\/1786463011543.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Executive privilege can shield President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Trump&#8217;s<\/a> communications with &#8220;private advisers&#8221; outside of the government, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/05\/trump-doj-voter-roll-lawsuits-fail\" target=\"_blank\">Justice Department&#8217;s<\/a> Office of Legal Counsel concluded Monday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>Democrats have been planning to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/03\/trump-financial-disclosure-democrats-subpoena\" target=\"_blank\">bypass<\/a> expected White House stonewalling by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/03\/12\/democrats-congressional-oversight-midterms-senate-judiciary\" target=\"_blank\">subpoenaing<\/a> companies, colleges and private citizens if they win enough seats in November. The new opinion could create a new hurdle for<strong> <\/strong>Democrats should they retake Congress.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;It really could be a pretty significant weapon&#8221; for the administration &#8220;to deflect a lot of that congressional investigation of private parties,&#8221; says Jonathan<strong> <\/strong>Shaub, a University of Kentucky law professor and former OLC attorney.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The fine print: &#8220;<\/strong>The need for presidential confidentiality applies to communications with private advisers just as it does with government officials,&#8221; the opinion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/media\/1457271\/dl\" target=\"_blank\">reads<\/a>, arguing outside sources may be less willing to give advice if they fear public disclosure.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The OLC said privilege applies when three boxes are checked: The communications must &#8220;relate to official presidential decisionmaking,&#8221; &#8220;involve or reflect communications&#8221; with the president or his direct advisers, and remain confidential.<\/li>\n<li>The memo&#8217;s release was first <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JakeSherman\/status\/2087144534484398525\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> by Punchbowl News.<\/li>\n<li>Beyond its implications for future fights on the Hill, the opinion comes as<strong> <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/15\/boris-epshteyn-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Boris Epshteyn<\/a>, Trump&#8217;s senior personal counsel, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/business-and-practice\/doj-says-big-law-subpoenas-protect-privacy-of-trump-legal-advice\" target=\"_blank\">fights<\/a> a subpoena from the American Bar Association over deals the administration struck with law firms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Reality check: <\/strong>Even if the memo offers a legal argument for individuals fighting subpoenas, Shaub doubts courts will buy into the OLC&#8217;s theory.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shaub tells Axios that while the OLC has long held a broad interpretation of executive privilege, this goes beyond anything it&#8217;s formally ruled in the past.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The understanding was the general public and the courts would never accept this,&#8221; he says. However, &#8220;this OLC doesn&#8217;t seem hesitant to make these broad, sweeping claims.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>And while it could be a roadblock for lawmakers seeking information from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/03\/12\/democrats-congressional-oversight-midterms-senate-judiciary\" target=\"_blank\">private parties<\/a>, it only applies to presidential duties, Shaub says. A probe into something like Trump&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/07\/trump-media-crypto-treasury-deals\" target=\"_blank\">cryptocurrency empire<\/a> may be harder to defend as privileged.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/strong> A DOJ official told Axios in a statement that the &#8220;issue has not been litigated frequently,&#8221; but the opinion &#8220;reaffirms the longstanding position of the office going back at least as far as Paul Clement in 2007 and arguably as far back as 1972.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Catch up quick:<\/strong> The Trump administration has intermingled with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/08\/25\/trump-sovereign-wealth-fund-intel-private-sector\" target=\"_blank\">private sector<\/a> in historic ways and has built a political orbit that stretches far beyond his Cabinet into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/10\/16\/corporate-america-trump-playbook-investments\" target=\"_blank\">business<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/01\/12\/most-americans-skeptical-trump-big-tech-ties\" target=\"_blank\">tech<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/04\/03\/trump-laura-loomer-fire-national-security-council\" target=\"_blank\">media<\/a> and his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/2026\/04\/jared-kushner-ethics\/686808\/\" target=\"_blank\">family<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Trump administration has taken <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/05\/trump-foia-presidential-records-access\" target=\"_blank\">other steps<\/a> to shield records from the public, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/04\/01\/trump-doj-presidential-records-act-national-archives\" target=\"_blank\">including declaring<\/a> the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 unconstitutional (in a memo that was later shot <a href=\"https:\/\/ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov\/cgi-bin\/show_public_doc\" target=\"_blank\">down<\/a> by a federal judge).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What we&#8217;re watching:<\/strong> The OLC opinion lands<strong> <\/strong>as the administration&#8217;s legal apparatus undergoes a makeover: Todd Blanche was formally sworn in as attorney general, and White House staff secretary Will Scharf will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/10\/will-scharf-white-house-counsel-midterms\" target=\"_blank\">soon take over<\/a> as White House counsel.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the midterms go well for Democrats, that could put Scharf at the center of debates over executive privilege.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Go deeper: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/05\/05\/trump-foia-presidential-records-access\" target=\"_blank\">Inside Trump&#8217;s assault on public records<\/a><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Executive privilege can shield President Trump&#8217;s communications with &#8220;private advisers&#8221; outside of the government, the Justice Department&#8217;s Office of Legal Counsel concluded Monday. Why it matters: Democrats have been planning to bypass expected White House stonewalling by subpoenaing companies, colleges and private citizens if they win enough seats in November. The new opinion could create&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/LkonP0_kMcXb1w0nRS52YTmyJ3s=\/0x0:5472x3078\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/11\/1786463011543.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}