“The harm exists to the institution of the presidency,” Mr. Clark said.
“But the current president disagrees,” the judge shot back.
Mr. Trump has asserted executive privilege over 656 pages that include proposed talking points for Kayleigh McEnany, his former press secretary; a handwritten note concerning Jan. 6; a draft text of a presidential speech for the “Save America” rally that preceded the mob attack; and a draft executive order on the topic of election integrity, the filing states.
Mr. Trump has also sought to block the release of 46 pages of records from the files of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff; Stephen Miller, his former senior adviser; and Patrick F. Philbin, his former deputy counsel. Mr. Trump is objecting to the release of the White House Daily Diary — a record of the president’s movements, phone calls, trips, briefings, meetings and activities — as well as logs showing phone calls to the president and to Vice President Mike Pence concerning Jan. 6.
Finally, Mr. Trump asserted executive privilege over 68 additional pages, including a draft proclamation honoring the Capitol Police and two officers who died after the riot, Brian D. Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, as well as related emails; a memo about a potential lawsuit against several states that Mr. Biden won last year; an email chain from a state official regarding election-related issues; and talking points on supposed election irregularities in one county in Michigan.
Mr. Clark called the committee’s request a “broad document dump” that was nothing more than a “partisan” attack.
Judge Chutkan asked him to tone down the language.
“I agree with you, Mr. Clark: Some of these requests are alarmingly broad,” she said. “But some of them are very specific, and are specifically targeting the events of Jan. 6.”