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Quick thread on the possibility that Trump might invoke executive privilege to try to shield portions of Mueller’s report in response to a congressional subpoena. Bottom line: it wouldn’t necessarily mean that he’s hiding something damning. 1/
The contours of executive privilege help define the powers of the executive branch vis-à-vis Congress and the courts. His lawyers might have principled grounds to recommend that he invoke executive privilege. 2/
You might reasonably counter that there’s no evidence that Trump cares one whit about what happens to the powers of the executive branch, or anything else other than himself, once he leaves office. But there’s more. 3/
Even if Trump’s decisions on executive privilege are solely motivated by self-interest, he might invoke it to shield harmless stuff to avoid setting a precedent that could come back to bite him in the course of congressional investigations into other aspects of his presidency. 4/
Trump might also try to hide innocuous communications to bait congressional Democrats into a drawn-out fight that ends with the equivalent of Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone’s vault on national TV and finding it empty. 5/
Of course, it’s also possible he would invoke executive privilege to hide communications that *are* damning. If Trump does invoke executive privilege, Congress should take up the fight – but we should not assume that it will find a smoking gun. 6/end
