Executive overprivilege

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• President Donald Trump has asserted blanket executive privilege over the unredacted Mueller report, further escalating the conflict between the White House and House Democrats. [NYT / Nicholas Fandos]
• This is the first time the president has used his executive privilege in the ever-more-contentious battle over the Mueller report. His order bars lawmakers from seeing not only a full, unredacted version of the Mueller report but any underlying evidence used in the investigation as well. [The Hill / Morgan Chalfant and Jordan Fabian]
• Trump’s order was issued Wednesday morning, just before the House Judiciary Committee began its vote on holding Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to meet the deadline to provide a full Mueller report. House Democrats and the Justice Department had been attempting to negotiate a settlement regarding the Mueller report on Tuesday but failed. [Politico / Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio]
• Although the House passed the contempt resolution, it is unlikely that Barr will pay a fine or go to jail as a result. This, however, will be the first step for Democrats to attempt to charge Barr with a crime. [Vox / Ella Nilsen]
• House Democrats and the White House are about to enter a long and bitter legal fight as the legislative and executive branches battle for power. [CNN / Stephen Collinson, Laura Jarrett, and Veronica Stracqualursi]
• This move, however, will not interfere with Mueller testifying to the committee, although it may now restrict the amount of information he can reveal. The committee is still trying to nail down a specific date for his hearing. [Washington Post / Rachael Bade, Carol D. Leonnig, and Matt Zapotosky]

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