WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is trying to have it both ways by arguing that classified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home are personal property but also covered by executive privilege, the Justice Department said.
In a Tuesday court filing, the government took on Trump’s claims that the Presidential Records Act gives him broad discretion to decide that White House documents are personal and therefore not covered by the law. The Justice Department said that clashed with his claim that those documents are also protected by the executive privilege afforded presidents.
“If Plaintiff truly means to suggest that, while president, he chose to categorize records with markings such as ‘SECRET’ and ‘TOP SECRET’ as his personal records for purposes of the PRA, then he cannot assert that the very same records are protected by executive privilege — i.e., that they are ‘presidential communications’ made in furtherance of the ‘performance of his official duties,’” the Justice Department said.
