President Trump will not claim Executive Privilege to Block Former FBI Director James Comey

President Trump will not claim executive privilege to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress later this week, the White House confirmed on Monday.

At the daily White House press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters the president wants a “thorough investigation of facts,” in reference to Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee this Thursday.

“The president’s power to assert executive privilege is very well-established. However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey’s scheduled testimony,” Huckabee Sanders said, reading a statement on the matter to reporters on Monday.

The statement marked the first firm answer from the administration on whether the president would use his executive privilege, a legal doctrine that allows the president to withhold information from other government branches