Attorneys for former president Donald Trump are reportedly engaged in a closed-door court fight to keep a federal grand jury from hearing testimony from the twice-impeached ex-president’s White House advisers as part of a probe into the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
According to CNN, Mr Trump’s lawyers have aggressively asserted executive and attorney-client privilege to block some witnesses, such as ex-White House aide and attorney Eric Herschmann, from complying with subpoenas to appear before the grand jury.
A trio of Trump lawyers were at a Washington, DC courthouse on Thursday, reportedly to present arguments on the matter to a federal judge.
After Evan Corcoran, Tim Parlatore and John Rowley were seen exiting the courthouse, Mr Palatore told reporters he was “representing a client” there but did not elaborate further.
The Trump team is reportedly asking a federal judge to honour Mr Trump’s privilege claims to limit to block Mr Herschmann from testifying before the panel. Mr Herschmann previously recieved a subpoena ordering him to appear earlier this month but his testimony has been postponed.
Because the dispute between the Department of Justice and the Trump team involves grand jury testimony, the proceedings in this court fight are held under seal and not available to the public.
Some ex-Trump aides, including ex-White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and his former deputy, Pat Philbin, have appeared before the panel. Ex-aides to former Vice President Mike Pence have also testified before the Washington, DC grand jury, which is reportedly investigating Mr Trump’s push to overturn the election and the violent riot that ensued after he summoned a mob of his supporters to Washington in hopes of blocking Congress from certifying his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
The ex-Trump aides have all declined to answer some questions, citing executive privilege.
