The Attorney General
Washington, DC.

 

May 8, 2019

The President
The White House
Washington, DC. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to request that you make a protective assertion of executive privilege with
respect to Department of Justice documents recently subpoenaed by the Committee on the
Judiciary of the House of Representatives. In cases like this where a committee has declined to
grant suf?cient time to conduct a full review, the President may make a protective assertion of
privilege to protect the interests of the Executive Branch pending a ?nal determination about
whether to assert privilege. See Protective Assertion of Executive Privilege Regarding White
House Counsel?s O?ice Documents, 20 Op. O.L.C. 1 (1996) (opinion of Attorney General Janet
Reno). The Committee has demanded that I produce the ?complete and unredacted version? of
the report submitted to me on March 22, 2019, by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, Ill,
regarding his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The
COmmittee also seeks ?[a]ll documents referenced in the Report? and ?[a]ll documents obtained
and investigative materials created by the Special Counsel?s Of?ce.? The Committee therefore
demands all of the Special Counsel?s investigative ?les, which consist of millions of pages of
classi?ed and unclassi?ed documents bearing upon more than two dozen criminal cases and
investigations, many of which are ongoing. These materials include law enforcement
information, information about sensitive intelligence sources and methods, and grand?jury
information that the Department is prohibited from disclosing by law.

Consistent with paragraph 5 of President Reagan?s 1982 memorandum about assertions
of executive privilege, the Department requested that the Chairman of the Committee hold the
subpoena in abeyance and delay any vote recommending that the House of Representatives
approve a resolution ?nding me in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with the
subpoena, pending a ?nal presidential decision on whether to invoke executive privilege. See
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Re: Procedures Governing
Responses to Congressional Requests for Information at 2 (Nov. 4, 1982). The Department
made this request because, although the subpoenaed materials assuredly include categories of
information within the scope of executive privilege, the Committee?s abrupt resort to a contempt
vote?notwithstanding ongoing negotiations about appropriate accommodations?has not
allowed suf?cient time for you to consider fully whether to make a conclusive assertion of
executive privilege. The Chairman, however, has indicated that he intends to proceed with the
markup session scheduled at 10 am. today on a resolution recommending a ?nding of contempt
against me for failing to produce the requested materials.

In these circumstances, you may properly assert executive privilege With respect to the
entirety of the Department of Justice materials that the Committee has demanded, pending a ?nal
decision on the matter. As with President Clinton?s assertion in 1996, you would be making only
a preliminary, protective assertion of executive privilege designed to ensure your ability to make
a ?nal assertion, if necessary, over some or all of the subpoenaed materials. See Protective
Assertion of Executive Privilege, 20 Op. O.L.C. at 1. As the Attorney General and head of the
Department of Justice, I hereby respectfully request that you do so.

Sincerely,

WM

William P. Barr
Attorney General