The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is trying to force former White House officials to testify about what the 45th POTUS Donald Trump said and did while the US Capitol riot was taking place on 6 January 2021, and is willing to engage in a courtroom battle to procure such testimonies, CNN reports.
According to the media outlet, DoJ prosecutors suspect that Trump may attempt to use claims of executive privilege to prevent certain information from reaching the federal grand jury.
Attorney General Merrick Garland also reportedly said this week that they intend to hold accountable anyone “criminally responsible for the events surrounding January 6”.
This development comes after Marc Short - former vice-president Mike Pence's chief of staff - and Greg Jacob, Pence’s ex-legal counsel, testified before the federal grand jury but refrained from answering questions about direct interactions with Trump, CNN notes citing two people familiar with the matter.
The media outlet also pointed out that before Jacob and Short testified, their lawyers and the prosecutors “outlined some questions they would avoid to steer clear of potential privilege issues, with the expectation that they could return to those questions at a later date."
Successfully challenging an executive privilege claim in the legal field is not unprecedented in the United States: the Supreme Court ruled in 1974 to release the Watergate tapes during the investigation of the 37th POTUS Richard Nixon, despite a presidential executive privilege claim.
And according to former White House counsel Neil Eggleston, if Trump were to attempt to block the DoJ investigation in such a way, “it would be effortless for the Department of Justice to litigate and win this".
"This happens in days. This does not take very long," Eggleston said, as quoted by CNN.