Trump officials can testify in inquiries on January 6: Justice Dept.

The Justice Department informed former Trump administration officials this week that they could testify before various committees investigating the Jan.6 attack on the Capitol, according to a letter obtained by the New York Times.

Witnesses can give “unrestricted testimony” to the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, the ministry said in a letter this week. Both panels examine the Trump administration’s efforts to overturn the election in its final days and the events leading up to the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill.

The decision goes against the views of former President Donald J. Trump, who argued that his decisions and deliberations are protected by executive privilege. It also sets up a potential legal battle if Mr. Trump sues in an attempt to block any testimony.

In this case, the courts might be forced to decide to what extent a former president can be protected by privilege. Supporters of Mr. Trump have argued that a president cannot function if the privilege can be withdrawn by a successor, exposing sensitive decision-making and opening the previous administration to scrutiny.

But others say the matter is established law and the privilege does not apply in extraordinary circumstances.

During his last few weeks in office, Mr. Trump lobbied Justice Department officials to help him overturn the election results, asking them to open investigations into allegations of vote tampering that the officials said. Investigators said they had already examined and determined to be false.

“Lawyers for the department, including those who have left the department, are obligated to protect non-public information they learn in the course of their work,” the Department of Justice said in a letter signed by Bradley Weinsheimer, a senior career official of the Deputy Attorney General. Desk.

“The extraordinary events in this matter constitute exceptional circumstances justifying an accommodation for Congress,” he wrote, noting that the information sought by Congress was directly related to whether Mr. Trump tried to use the Department of Justice to advance “personal policy”. interest ”by subverting the election results.