POLITICUSUSA

Attorney General Garland made it clear in the DOJ indictment of Bannon that executive privilege belongs to the Executive Branch, not Trump.

Page two of the Bannon indictment spells this out, “STEPHEN K. BANNON was a private citizen. For approximately seven months in 2017, more than three years before the events of January 6, 2021, BANNON was employed in the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government as the Chief Strategist and Counselor to the 2 to: President. After departing the White House in 2017, BANNON did not work again in any Executive Branch or federal government position.”

The DOJ never had to mention Trump or Biden or connection with executive privilege. The DOJ is arguing that executive privilege rests with the Executive Branch, which means that the current head of the Executive Branch, President Biden, is the person with the authority to use executive privilege.

As Laurence Tribe put it on Twitter:

The DOJ didn’t break with any previous statements on executive privilege, but by criminally indicting Steve Bannon and placing executive privilege power with the Executive Branch, the message is very clear. Donald Trump has no executive privilege.