Executive privilege has always been a tricky subject. It remains far more vague and ill-defined than one might expect. There is a reason, however. Both Congress and the Executive branch have largely been afraid of throwing down the gloves in a fight and taking the matter to the SCOTUS. Perhaps both entities are afraid of whatever decision might be made.
Instead, deals tend to get made on a case by case basis, or – at least until Trump, deals had been made. The executive branch generally would accommodate Congress on most things. It is much harder for the public to pierce anything deemed to be privileged by the White House (See Cheney’s map of Iraq and his pre-9/11 meeting).
Because these matters are handled on a case-by-case basis, any action taken must be done so with serious caution given the fact that the White House best be prepared to get the same treatment next time around.
It was in this setting that Jen Psaki gave what will likely go down as the best answer of her tenure as press secretary:
REPORTER: “Has there been any concern or conversation about what might happen one day when the shoe is on the other foot and if another administration of the other party comes in and says it’s an extraordinary circumstance and they want to hand over documents that were deemed privileged by the Biden administration?”
PSAKI: “I can assure you that this President has no intention to lead an insurrection on our nation’s Capitol,”
REPORTER: “I anticipated that would be your answer almost word for word,”
PSAKI: “Oh, good.
“I think it is ultimately important for people to understand and remember that January 6th was an incredibly dark day — one of the darkest days in our democracy. There was an insurrection on our nation’s Capitol.
“What we’re talking about here is getting to the bottom of that. Shouldn’t everybody want to get to the bottom of that?”
Yes, yes, everyone should want to get to the bottom of that, and isn’t it peculiar that every elected politician in Washington with an “R” beside their name (with few exceptions) is terribly afraid of getting to the bottom of it? So strange.
Question: Has there been any concern about what might happen one day when the shoe is on the other foot
Psaki: I can assure you that this President has no intention to lead an insurrection on this nation’s Capitol pic.twitter.com/SmgEgVhIQT [1]— Acyn (@Acyn) October 14, 2021 [2]
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