- JUST THE NEWS - John Solomon - AUG 23, 2022 -
2009 executive order stripped prior presidents' standing to maintain executive privilege. Court hearing Friday in Navarro case could challenge that.
White House Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su was a busy man, at least when it came to carrying out President Joe Biden's wish to eliminate former President Donald Trump's claims that materials and testimony from his presidency were covered by executive privilege.
Su sent letters to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon last October and former advisers Peter Navarro and Gen. Mike Flynn in February informing them that the incumbent president had waived any claims Trump might have that testimony or evidence they might provide the House Jan. 6 committee was covered by executive privilege.
"President Biden determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not justified with respect to a set of documents shedding light on events within the White House on and about January 6, 2021," Su wrote Bannon attorney Robert Costello last Oct. 18.
In a Feb. 28 letter to Navarro, Su wrote, "In light of unique and extraordinary nature of the matters under investigation, President Biden has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified."
By spring, Su had also given permission to the National Archives to reject Trump's claims of privilege over documents with classified markings held at Mar-a-Lago so that the FBI could open a criminal investigation of the former president.
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