Dynamite News Donald Trump may block James Comey testimony
Blocking former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress could spark a political backlash.
New York: The White House may try to invoke executive privilege as former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate on June 8 about the accusations that President Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into his former national security adviser's ties to Russia.'s .
But blocking former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress could spark a political backlash.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said that the president and his White House counsel haven't decided whether to invoke a doctrine called executive privilege, saying that the West Wing hadn't had enough time to consider all of the options just yet.
Also Read |
Donald Trump has 'total confidence' in son-in-law Kushner
Kellyanne Conway raised the prospect that the White House may try to invoke executive privilege over Comey's conversations with Trump.
Also Read: Donald Trump faces 'isolation' after Comey's firing
"That committee hearing was just noticed and I think, obviously, it has got to be reviewed," Spicer said. "Literally, my understanding is the date for that hearing was just set. I have not spoken to counsel yet. I don't know how they are going to respond."
Legal experts are skeptical the President could successfully invoke the privilege to muzzle Comey because Trump has already written a letter about their conversations, talked about them publicly and even tweeted about them.
Also Read | FBI asks Justice Department to refute Trump's wiretap allegations
In other words, they say, the President can't use the privilege as a sword in one context and a shield in another.
The President has said that Comey informed him three times that he personally was not under investigation.But a memo written by Comey suggested th