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White House: Trump won’t use executive privilege to block Comey testimony
Former FBI Director James Comey leaves a closed door meeting with Senators at the U.S. Capitol on March 15 in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump will not attempt to use executive privilege to block the former FBI director from testifying before Congress on Thursday, a spokesperson for the White House said Monday. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

White House: Trump won’t use executive privilege to block Comey testimony

President Donald Trump will not attempt to use executive privilege to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress later this week, White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Monday.

Comey, who was abruptly fired by Trump last month, is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. Lawmakers will investigate allegations that Trump asked Comey to end an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Comey is reportedly expected to testify that Trump did ask him to end the bureau’s probe of Flynn’s ties to Russia. Flynn resigned in February after he admitted to misleading Vice President Mike Pence about conversations Flynn had with the Russian ambassador.

“The president’s power to assert executive privilege is well established,” Huckabee Sanders said. “However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey’s scheduled testimony.”

The New York Times said that it is “not clear” if the White House would have been successful had it attempted to use executive privilege to block Comey’s testimony:

The Supreme Court has found that presidents enjoy a right to confidentiality in communications with their advisers, but it is not an absolute privilege and courts have overridden such claims in the past.

If Mr. Trump had tried to assert executive privilege and the Senate committee challenged him in court, legal experts said, Mr. Trump had a weak case because he has himself publicly discussed his private conversations with Mr. Comey.

During his testimony, Comey will likely face questions about the circumstances surrounding his termination and any discussions he had with the president regarding the FBI’s investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.

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