Liberal Forum

Trump waived executive privilege when he called Bolton a liar.

In a series of tweets just after midnight Monday, Trump responded to weekend reporting about a forthcoming book by his former national security adviser John Bolton.

The book reportedly reveals that Trump tied military aid for Ukraine to his demands for investigations into his political rivals.

Trump’s tweets directly dispute the truth of these claims.

He may have been hoping to push wavering Senate Republicans away from agreeing to call Bolton to testify in the impeachment trial.

But in the process, Trump probably waived any executive privilege that he could have claimed to keep Bolton quiet if that gambit fails.
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Just after midnight Monday, Trump tweeted: “I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens.

In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book.”
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If Trump fails in persuading the Senate that witnesses are unnecessary, then his best hope for preventing Bolton from providing damaging testimony is by asserting executive privilege.

But now, the executive privilege argument is no longer available.

Trump’s tweets directly denying the substance of Bolton’s reported allegations waive any privilege that might have protected them from public disclosure.

Privilege is meant to keep a president’s secrets confidential.

If the president reveals those secrets or publicly discusses the conversations himself, there is no longer any need to protect them from disclosure.