Trump invokes executive privilege in Kennedy Center legal fight

President Donald Trump has formally claimed executive privilege to keep records away from Representative Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat suing over the plan to close the Kennedy Center for renovations. White House deputy counsel Joshua Hoyt notified a federal judge Wednesday that the presidential communications privilege covers exchanges among Trump, advisers and center employees about the institution's functioning. The question is untested: the board elected Trump chairman last year, the first sitting president to hold that post, according to CBS News.

The claim covers records on the proposed two-year closure, the center's finances, the push to put Trump's name on the facade, and possible demolition. Hoyt argued that advisers would otherwise hold back candid advice, since the president appoints board members and must understand operations. Justice Department lawyers called Beatty's requests a fishing expedition raising separation-of-powers worries.

Beatty, an ex officio board member, sued in December. In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper blocked the closure and ordered Trump's name removed from the facade, and allowed discovery. Beatty's lawyers call the blanket privilege claim unprecedented and want Cooper to order the material handed over.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News →