Trump attorney goes down in flames after judge asks hypothetical question on executive privilege

Justin Clark, an attorney for Donald Trump, reportedly struggled on Tuesday after an appeals court judge asked him why the former president has more authority than the current president when it comes to decisions about executive privilege.

During a hearing in federal court, Clark argued that Trump should be allowed to invoke executive privilege to prevent the Jan. 6 committee from viewing documents related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"Is there a circumstance where the former president ever gets to make this sort of call?" Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson reportedly asked Trump's attorneys.

Judge Patricia Ann Millett presented a hypothetical in which the current president needed to use the former president's documents for national security reasons.

"Wow. Trump lawyer Justin Clark just stepped in it with Judge Millett," justice correspondent Andrew Feinberg reported. "He's telling her that a former president could sue to stop a current president from using a previous administration's records to conduct foreign policy and national security decision-making."

"Clark can't give Millett a situation in which he thinks a court could let a current president use those documents under her hypothetical," Feinberg added.

A judge has previously rejected Trump's attempts to use executive privilege to keep his documents hidden.