Keeps Getting Worse

Executive Privilege
The privilege that allows the president and other high officials of the executive branch to keep certain communications private if disclosing those communications would disrupt the functions or decision making processes of the executive branch. As demonstrated by the Watergate hearings, this privilege does not extend to information germane to a criminal investigation.

In advance of today’s hearings with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned the White House that it cannot avoid congressional oversight by using executive privilege to run out the clock.“When privilege has been claimed in these kinds of cases, it has taken months not years” to resolve, Schumer said at a press conference. “So those in the White House who think that they can somehow sort of outlast this, as the courts debate privilege, I think are mistaken. We will get to the bottom of this while President Bush is still president.”

A White House official today again raised the possibility of an executive-privilege claim on e-mails and other documents from private e-mail accounts used by senior White House officials but controlled by the Republican National Committee.
More....

Sphere: Related Content