{"id":1424,"date":"2026-08-12T04:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T04:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2026-08-12T04:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T04:25:13","slug":"doj-expands-executive-privilege-to-include-trumps-talks-with-private-citizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1424","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Expands Executive Privilege to Include Trump\u2019s Talks With Private Citizens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Read more Federal Court Dismisses Youth Climate Lawsuit Challenging Trump Executive Orders<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Just one day after Todd Blanche was sworn in as attorney general, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new memorandum expanding what constitutes \u201cexecutive privilege,\u201d extending the presidential protection to conversations he has with private citizens.<\/p>\n

While not signed by Blanche personally, many legal experts view the new opinion as indicating what types of arguments the Trump administration (including the new attorney general) may employ to refuse subpoena orders from Congress should Democrats win control of one or both houses of the national legislature in this year\u2019s midterms.<\/p>\n

Executive privilege is a legal doctrine used in the past by presidents from both major political parties that \u201cdefines the authority of the President to withhold documents or information in his possession or in the possession of the Executive Branch from the Legislative or Judicial Branch of the government.\u201d The Supreme Court has upheld the doctrine at various times in U.S. history, but has also ruled that it is not absolute in certain circumstances. <\/p>\n

The DOJ slip opinion issued on Monday was signed by T. Elliot Gaiser, assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel. The opinion is not legally binding, but provides insight into how the department will handle inquiries into President Donald Trump\u2019s conversations with non-executive branch figures in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a general matter, executive privilege can apply to presidential communications with private advisers,\u201d the opinion states. <\/p>\n

Executive privilege has traditionally only extended to communications between presidents and staffers within their branch of government. This new opinion extends that to cover conversations with individuals outside the executive branch, including private, nongovernmental people.<\/p>\n

The opinion does not say that all <\/em>presidential communications of this nature are privileged \u2014 indeed, it lays out that conversations between the president and private advisers are only protected \u201cso long as they relate to official presidential decisionmaking, involve or reflect communications with the President or his direct advisers, and are confidential.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But those exceptions are vague, and allow the administration to determine for itself whether a communication falls into such categories. <\/p>\n

The memo also provides a broad definition of what constitutes a \u201cprivate\u201d adviser. Government employees who are not within the executive branch are included, for example, as are \u201cmembers of the public\u201d and \u201cstate officials.\u201d Under this definition, a president\u2019s conversation with a member of Congress or their staffers could feasibly fall into executive privilege status.<\/p>\n

Despite Blanche\u2019s name not being attached to the opinion, some observers have suggested he could have been part of its compilation, given that he was acting attorney general while it was likely being crafted. The document\u2019s delay \u2014 being published the day after Blanche was sworn in \u2014 may also suggest that the administration didn\u2019t want it being made public until his Senate confirmation was assured. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, look. Blanche gets confirmed. Trump gets an entirely new immunity,\u201d Amanda Carpenter, writer at Protect Democracy, wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) reacted to news of the expansion of executive privilege as proof that the Trump administration was worried about a Democratic Congress holding him and others to account.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump is scared,\u201d Schumer wrote in a Bluesky post. \u201cHe knows accountability is coming. He\u2019s using his newly installed Attorney General\/personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to cover up his communications with private advisers and special interest cronies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other legal analysts agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are several reasons why the Trump administration would literally attempt to create privilege doctrine out of thin air, and the impending power shift in November as Democrats attempt to take control of both the US House and Senate is first among them,\u201d attorney and legal analyst Amee Vanderpool said, adding, \u201cThis opinion significantly raises the stakes surrounding both the assertion of executive privilege and decisions regarding compliance with congressional subpoenas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The opinion from the DOJ comes just one day after Todd Blanche was sworn in as attorney general.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ Expands Executive Privilege to Include Trump\u2019s Talks With Private Citizens - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1424\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ Expands Executive Privilege to Include Trump\u2019s Talks With Private Citizens - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The opinion from the DOJ comes just one day after Todd Blanche was sworn in as attorney general.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1424\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-12T04:25:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"DOJ Expands Executive Privilege to Include Trump\u2019s Talks With Private Citizens\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T04:25:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424\"},\"wordCount\":713,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/a81ab8e771fbfa77a88e2782fce41774.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1424\",\"name\":\"DOJ Expands Executive Privilege to Include Trump\u2019s Talks With Private Citizens - 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