As Trump entered a not guilty plea in the local charges against him in New York, a federal appeals court dealt a blow to the former president in a separate case. Trump’s aides will have to testify in the federal January 6 probe, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled.
On Monday night, Trump’s legal team asked the court in an emergency bid to overturn a lower court ruling in favor of Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last November. Smith is looking into Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election as well as his handling of classified documents
Judge Beryll Howard had previously rejected the former president’s attempt to exert executive privilege to shield his aides from testifying in a sealed order in March. Trump’s team believe the conversations between a president and those close to him ought to be kept confidential. But now that Howard’s ruling has been upheld by an appellate court, aides like ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows and former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe will have to answer questions from prosecutors.
Meadows in particular is viewed as having valuable information. He directed a number of White House meetings with GOP lawmakers and coordinated with officials at the Department of Justice and in Georgia. Additionally, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchison claimed in testimony that Meadows burned papers in his office “once or twice” a week, according to the Hill.
Monday night saw a flurry legal filings, CNN reported. Judges Patricia Millett, Robert Wilkins, and Greg Katsas sought a response from the Justice Department regarding Trump’s emergency bid. The Justice Department responded about two hours later. The Biden administration has repeatedly declined to assert executive privilege for the presidency in connection with Trump’s actions around January 6, 2021.
While Trump’s team has fervently criticized various courts for rejecting its attempts to exert executive privilege, the doctrine has limits that are often overcome in criminal proceedings.
A source told CNN that Trump’s team is unlikely to appeal to the Supreme Court for help.
In a separate case, former vice president Mike Pence will have to testify about the conversations he had with Trump leading up to January 6. Federal judge James Boasberg did however rule the former vice president can decline to answer questions related to his actions on January 6 itself. The vice president was serving in a legislative capacity as president of the Senate on that day.
Pence asserted legislative privilege when he challenged Jack Smith’s subpoena. The legal route was most likely chosen because of the limits of executive privilege and because protections afforded to legislators by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause have remained mostly impenetrable.
Pence can still appeal Boasberg’s ruling.