Reading Room Document

Assertion of Executive Privilege Concerning the Special Counsel's Interviews of the Vice President and Senior White House Staff

It is legally permissible for the President to assert executive privilege in response to a congressional subpoena for reports of Department of Justice interviews with the Vice President and senior White House staff taken during the Department's investigation by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's identity as an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/482156/download.

July 15, 2008